Charmed in Smallville
by LeoZodiac
Summary: Chris ran away from home, and landed in Smallville. Now he has to deal with Meteor freaks, and homesickness. And just what is he running from?
1. Chapter 1

_I don't own Charmed or Smallville!_

 _An: This probably won't follow either show too closely, though will likely follow Charmed a little more closely than Smallville._

"What are you doing up here?" Chris jumped so high he almost fell off the couch he'd been asleep on. He'd meant to be gone before anyone found him in the barn he'd chosen to crash in, but he must have been more tired than he thought.

"I'm sorry, I'll just get going." He went to stand back up, but almost fell over again, and within moments the person who'd woken him up was next to him, holding his arm to steady him. The person looked to be about his age, and quite a bit taller than him, with dark blue eyes and longish black hair with a little bit of a curl to it. He was wearing blue jeans and a flannel shirt, with a white t-shirt underneath it.

"You don't look so good." The other boy was saying, and he felt his world tilt on its axis before it all went dark.

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"Your room is going to be across from Clark's here." Chris had been shocked when he'd woken up in the hospital and been told that the family who's barn he'd been staying in had offered to have him stay with them. Granted, he'd made it awful hard for the authorities when he refused to give them any information about who he was, he didn't even give them his real name, not that they knew that. "I hope you don't mind, I washed the clothes we found in the loft, and bought a few more."

"You didn't have to, but thanks." He was still uncomfortable with the thought of staying with them, he wasn't planning on staying long anyways, just long enough to recover from his close call with pneumonia, then he was going to be on his way again, he didn't want to run the risk of anyone magical being able to find him.

He resisted the urge to fiddle with the necklace he wore around his neck, not wanting to draw too much attention to it. It wasn't that it was something he wanted to hide, sure it was important, but it wasn't something that anyone could identify him by...unless they were magical. It was a silver disk with the triquetra hanging by just a thin piece of leather. It had been given to him by his dad shortly before he ran away; he'd been having a hard time with bullies at magic school and the middle school he'd attended, and his dad had given it to him as a reminder that he was not alone, and would always have his family. Now it was the one thing keeping him and his family apart. He'd cast a cloaking spell on himself, and anchored it to the necklace, as long as he was wearing it he couldn't be found by magical means.

When he'd woken up without it on, he'd hoped somewhat that he'd look around the room and see his parents watching over him, but obviously they'd stopped looking for him and he was all alone. He figured that was what happened when you'd been gone for over two years. People just eventually gave up on you.

Looking around the room he'd been given he unpacked what little he had, before sitting down on the bed with the old worn out diary he'd found in the back room at his mom's club. It was the diary his future self had left behind, filled with accounts of things and demons he'd faced in the future when Wyatt was evil. Potions and spells his future self had created, the cloaking spell on his necklace being one of them. There were also some spells and potions copied directly from the Book of Shadows.

"Hey, you hungry?" He looked up to see Clark Kent standing there with a plate full of sandwiches. He set the book of to the side, fighting down the urge to hide it, not wanting to draw attention to it.

"So they decided to send you to get information out of me?" He asked the younger boy, giving him a slight smile to let him know there were no hard feelings.

"Am I that transparent?" Clark asked with a sheepish grin.

"You are a terrible liar." He grinned back at him. "I'm guessing they told you to act nonchalant."

"I think they just wanted to make sure no one was out there missing you." He reached for a sandwich off the plate as Clark sat down next to him.

"No, no one's out there looking for me." He assured the younger boy, taking a large bite out the sandwich, grinning when Clark snagged one from the plate.

"Soooo...Where are you from, and what brings you to Smallville?" Clark asked with a teasing grin.

"Some place far from here." Chris said a grin, playing along. "As for what brings me here, well, I was passing through and thought your barn seemed like a good place to crash for the night. My plan was to be gone before anyone found me. Unfortunately for me my plans were ruined by an unseasonably cold night." As if to prove his point he dissolved into hacking coughs at that moment, and accepted the glass of water when it was offered to him. "Thanks."

"I'll just let you get some rest." Clark said as he stood and left the room. Opening the Diary he flipped to the very back of it, running a finger over the three pictures taped to the back two pages. The first one was of five people, two teen boys, and a young girl with two adults who were obviously their parents. Everyone was smiling at the camera, the dad had his arms around the older boy and the woman, and she had her other arm around the young girl. In the center of everything was a the younger boy, every one of them smiling for the camera. It was almost easy to over look the hidden sadness in the younger boy's eyes. In the two pictures taped to the other pages each held only two people. One had the man with his arm draped around the younger boy's shoulder, while the other one showed the woman with her arms wrapped around the boy's neck. Snapping the book shut, he angrily wiped the tears from his eyes.

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"Loser" Chris turned to glare at the person who'd just shoved him into the locker, trying to stop his hand from twitching, knowing that with as angry as he was it would likely cause him to lose control of his powers and inadvertently throw the offending jock down the hall. It wasn't like he wasn't used to getting shoved around, being the smaller brother of one of the school's more popular students had made him a likely target. People saw it as a challenge to try and push him around without his brother finding out. Or at least that's what he thought that's why they did it, now he had to wonder if there was just something about him.

The Kents had told him that he was welcome to stay with them as long as he needed, but that he would have to live by their rules, and that meant chores around the farm and going to high school. He was just lucky he was able to test into Sophomore level classes and not Freshman like he'd feared. It made the story he gave the authorities of being on the run for only a year that much more plausible. It would have been much harder to explain why he was two years in school behind his 16 years of age.

"You ok?" He turned to see Clark and his friends Chloe and Pete coming toward him, so he stood up and straightened his sweatshirt before nodding his head and heading off for his first class.

"Is he always that rude?" He assumed Chloe was asking Clark that question, but he wasn't about to let anyone into his life. He knew he wouldn't be sticking around here long. He'd have to move on sooner rather than later, and that would be hard if he had ties here to hold him back. He figured there were still demons out there looking for him even if his family had stopped.

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"I'm sure he just has a lot on his mind right now." Clark was quick to defend his, well, he wasn't really sure what Chris was, for what seemed like the hundredth time that day. It seemed like his friend couldn't stand the kid now living across the hall from him, and they didn't seem to run out of things to say about the older boy. Granted, Chris didn't help things by refusing to be friendly or acknowledge anyone.

"I just find it weird, I looked in every data base I could think of and I didn't find any record of a Chris Bennet being reported missing." Chloe continued as she sat down in front of the computer at the torch.

"It would help if someone was actually looking for me...or if you'd looked up my actual name, it's Warren by the way, Warren Christopher Bennet. Not that you'll find anything using that name either. Like I said, someone would have to be looking for me first." Chris looked mad at them, and Clark didn't think he could blame him. He had been pissed when he'd found out different friends had been researching him.

"Sorry, it's a bad habit of hers." Clark told him, giving him an apologetic smile. "You about ready to head home?"

"Yeah, I mean we promised your dad we'd help him with the chores when we got home, I'd kinda like to get a jump on that. I also have a ton of homework to get caught up on, what with me not attending school in the last year or so." Clark could see there was more to it than Chris was saying, but he didn't want him to start pushing him away too. He figured there was a way to get through to Chris, to help him stop running, but he knew he wouldn't be able to do that if he pushed Chris too hard.

He wished he knew what it was about the other boy that drew him to him, there was just something familiar about him. It was hard to believe they had met less than a week ago, it felt like he'd known Chris forever.

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A month had passed since the Kents had taken him in, and so far he'd managed to keep everyone but the Kents at a distance. Not that he hadn't tried to keep them at a distance, it was just that Martha and Jonathan reminded him so much of his mom and dad. No matter how hard he tried to push them away, they just kept coming back. They had even tried to get him to open up to them about his family because they wanted to help _him_ not because they wanted to get rid of him. It was almost easy for him to see himself living here the rest of his life.

Clark was a whole other matter completely. He'd known he was attracted to men for a while, had even told his dad about it right before he ran away, he could still remember how it felt to have his dad wrap his arms around him, holding him tight and telling him that he would always love him, no matter what. The more he spent time with Clark, the more he wished the other boy wasn't straight, and how much he wished he could introduce him to his family. He was sure they'd all like him.

Clark's friends on the other hand, well, they couldn't stand him. Chloe and Pete made it very clear that he was not welcome, though they were willing to put up with him for Clark's sake. Lex on the other hand, treated him like he did Clark.

He knew Jonathan had an issue with Lex, but he believed in judging people for themselves, not who their parents were. Sure he knew Lex had a dark side, it was kinda hard to miss it, but he respected Lex for fighting the urge to act on it. Sure sometime that dark side came out, but he always tried to make it right. He just wished Jonathan would cut the young man some slack. He knew how it felt to be compared to his parents and found wanting. He saw the disappointment in the eyes of the magical community when they realized how much weaker he was than his parents and brother and sister. He was the only one who couldn't orb, even Melinda could do that, and she was younger than him. He wondered if there was something wrong with him, that he had not gotten that power. Maybe he was being punished for not being able to control his telekinesis.

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An: I've added a new pole to see if people want to see this story as a threesome with Lex, Chris, and Clark. Let me know what you think.


	2. Chapter 2

_I don't own Charmed or Smallville!_

"Need help with anything?" Chris asked Martha as he entered the kitchen, glad to have something to do since Jonathan and Clark told him they could handle fixing the tractor and he could head inside. How the two of them could handle the tractor on their own was a mystery to him, honestly it just needed a tire change, but he thought it would be easier lifting the tire with three instead of two.

"Well, I never turn down help, why don't you cut up the tomatoes for the salad." He nodded and took the knife and set off to work. "You're pretty good at that, Clark tends to squish most of them."

"I used to cook with my mom." He said before he could stop himself, and instantly wished he hadn't when he saw her eyes light up.

"Did your mom like to cook?" It was obvious she thought his mom was dead, and he wasn't about to correct her.

"She went to school to be a chef." He didn't look up from what he was doing, not wanting her to see the tears in her eyes. It hurt just how much he missed his family, and though he tried not to he couldn't help but wonder if they missed him.

"You know, why don't I finish up here and you go tell Clark and Jonathan that dinner is almost ready." He just nodded, greatful to get away and collect himself.

He slowly made his way out to the barn where the other two were working, and stopped in his tracks when he saw Clark holding up the tractor with one hand, talking to his dad as if it was nothing. He must have made a noise, cause Clark turned to look at him with fear in his eyes.

"Clark, could you pass me the wrench?" Jonathan looked at him when Clark failed to answer his question. "Chris!" He could see the fear in Jonathan and Clark's eyes.

"Um, Martha asked me to letyou know dinner was ready." He tried to act as though you saw a person lifting a tractor. "So, I'll just go." He said, mentally going over where all of his belongings were as he ran back into the house, hoping to make a quick getaway before the family asked him to leave.

"Just where do you think you're going?" He turned to look at Jonathan when he heard the man's voice, and saw him standing in th doorway with his arms crossed.

"Don't worry, I won't tell anyone Clark's secret, I know how important they can be. Besides, he doesn't try to hurt people with his gift like some of the other meteor freaks I've seen." He'd returned to his packing before he'd started packing, and didn't glance up once.

"So you're running again, is that it?" He zipped up his bag, shouldering it as he brushed past the older man.

"I've stayed too long." He could feel his eyes burning, and continued to avoid looking at the man so that he wouldn't see him cry. "It's past time I moved on."

"It's past time you quit running." Jonathan practically yelled at him.

"Shut up, you don't know a thing about me." Chris turned around and yelled in Jonathan's face, "You think I wanna leave?" He angrily wiped at the tears falling down his face. "I get a taste of what having a family is like, and I have to leave cause my rotten luck causes me to stumble onto the secret you'd been trying to keep from me."

He froze in shock when he was pulled into a tight hug, and it took him a minute for his brain to catch up enough to return it. "No one's going to make you leave, you stumbling onto Clark's secret like that wasn't what we expected, but we would never force you to leave. This is you're home too, as long as you want it. You hear me?"

Chris nodded, pulling back and wiping his eyes, angry with himself for getting so emotional. "Good." Jonathan said with a slight smile. "Now you're gonna march back up those stairs and unpack that bag...completely this time. If you're done with the whole running thing, no need for you to keep your get away bag packed, right?"

Chris nodded, and turned around, doing as he was told. On his way up the stairs he noticed the broken glass and flowers laying in a puddle of water, and realized he wouldn't be the only person learning a secret tonight.

After promising never to reveal Clark's secret, he jumped into revealing his own, told himself it was only fair, a secret for a secret. He could see that they thought he was just dabbling in Wicca, and that none of them believed in spells or potions, so he quickly decided to nix the talk of demons, it wasn't like any of them knew where he was, or thought he was powerful enough to be worth attacking. They had a hard time not believing him when it came to his telekinesis, pretty hard to explaine a heavy sofa sliding across the room with just a wave of his hand.

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"Do you ever think about telling others about your secret?" Clark asked as he stood in the window watching Chris sit by himself out on the roof over the porch. It felt like a huge weight lifted off him not having to worry about hiding his abilities at home anymore, it was a bit of a rush.

"No I don't, your parents are right about that. The world as a whole is not ready to know people like us exist." Chris turned to look at him, and Clark couldn't help but get lost in his intense green eyes. It had been happening a lot more lately, he found himself paying more attention to Chris than Lana, and he couldn't help but be confused by it.

"I don't mean tell the whole world, but surely you could tell your closest friends." He was so tired of lying that he couldn't help but want to tell Lex, Pete, Chloe...Lana.

"I know my family had a few friends who knew our secret, but they were often in danger because of it. Hell, one of the friends moved to the other coast after it almost cost him his life and family always lying for us." Clark had never thought about how knowing his secret could put his friends in danger.

"I'm not going to lie though, sometimes I wonder if telling Lex the truth wouldn't be the thing he needed to push him toward the side of good." Clark couldn't hide his suprise at hearing Chris say that. He thought the two were friends, and to hear him call Lex evil, well it made him want to jump to his friends defense.

Chris must have read his mind, because he continued with what he was saying, "I'm not saying that he's evil. We all have the potential for good and evil in us, some of us have no problem walking the path of good, while others see nothing wrong with walking the path of evil. Then their are others, like Lex, who so badly want to be good, but have mostly been taught evil. They straddle that line, about to teater off it at any moment, all it takes is one push for their path to be chosen for them. He sees surviving the accident as a miracle, but at the same time doesn't believe he's worthy of one. So he obsesses over it, grasping for a reason why he deserved to be saved. Especially when this town does nothing but beat him down over who his father is."

"You paint Lex Luthor out to be the victim, he hit Clark with his car because he was being reckless." They were both suprised to hear his dad's voice, Clark even more so when he realized the usual hatred and anger that was usually there when they talked about Lex was somewhat restrained.

"I'm not giving him a pass on that, he was being stupid, and has repeatedly tried to make amends for his actions. I'm not saying we forget it happened, but forgiveness can go a long way for both parties." Even as he said it Clark could tell there was something about the aspect of forgiveness that Chris struggled with.

"As far as I've seen Lex has only tried to do right by this town, but all they want to see is the Luthor name, no one wants to take the time and just see Lex." His dad got really quiet, and Clark could almost see his brain processing Chris's words.

Clark could see that his dad was uncomfortable, and judging by the fear in Chris's eyes, be could tell to, "It's not everyday you have a 16 year old kid point out that you and an entire town have been acting like petulant children." His dad shot Chris a reassuring smile, "Your mother asked me to remind you both that you both agreed her out at the farmers market tomorrow, and it's getting late."

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"Hey Clark." He turned at the sound of his name, and saw Lex approaching the truck he, his dad, and Chris had been unloading. "Need a hand?" He asked it even as he was pulling the last crate out of the back of the truck, waiting to follow Clark over to their booth with it. "Is it just you and your mom today?" He could hear the apprehension in Lex's voice, and wondered just how welcoming his dad would be after Chris's speech last night.

"No, dad and Chris are here too." Lex appeared resigned to his fate, before steeling himself and slipping on his polite mask.

"Here's the last of it." He announce, getting everyone's attention.

"Morning Lex." Everyone was astonished when his dad was the first one to greet the bald young man, and that he did so with only a little hostility in his voice. He gave him a slight grin "You know, you can put the crate down, you don't have to hold it all day."

"Right." Lex stepped forward to put the crate down on the table with all the other ones. It was odd watching Lex helping them out at their booth that day, helping people carry produce to their cars, those that would let him.

"Who wants lunch?" His dad asked around noon, and took down orders from everyone there, offering to run to the food truck to get said lunch. "Lex?" His dad paused, waiting for him to give an order.

"That's alright Mr. Kent, I can get my own lunch." Lex seemed unsure as to how to answer him.

"I know you can," Clark worried his dad was going to say something rude, but he suprised him, "It's the least I can do, what with you helping us today." In Lex's suprised state he missed the look his dad shot Chris.

"What got into him?" Lex asked once Jonathan was out of earshot.

"Someone told him that it was childish to treat you as though you and your father were the same person." His mom told him with an understanding smile. He was suprised to see the shocked and greatful look on his friends face, and realized just how much his dad's hostility affected him. "I'm going to go check and see if your father needs help, you boys think you can handle the booth?"

It wasn't long before his parents returned, divvying out the food the two were carrying. He was suprised when Chloe and Pete approached the booth, each carrying a tray of food. "Got room for two more?" He was suprised when Chloe's question was directed toward Chris and Lex.

"Chloe...well, we decided it was time to really get to know you guys." Pete changed what he was about to say after Chloe elbowed him.

"Have a seat." Chris patted the ground next to him, laying his hoodie out on the ground when Chloe made to sit down next to him.

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 _An: Cast your votes now, cause the relationship closes will be decided in the next chapter._


	3. Chapter 3

_I don't own Charmed or Smallville!_

"What's with all this secrecy?" Lex asked, laughing slightly, as they stood there waiting for Jonathan to open the storm cellar. It had been about six months since the man had started trying to accept him, and while he wasn't exactly friendly, at least he wasn't openly hostile anymore.

Now he was being invited over by the Kent family, lured in with the promis of being let in on some big secret. The kid, Ryan, tagging along was new too. "You've got questions, we decided to give you answers." He was officially intrigued as he followed Jonathan and Clark down into the storm cellar, Chris and Ryan bringing up the rear, both sitting on the steps before getting all the way down the stairs.

"So what's this all about?" Not that he didn't enjoy spending time with Clark and Chris, on the contrary, he was starting to enjoy his time with them so much that it was likely to get him in trouble. If nothing else, it was just one more thing his father could use against him.

"I know you've questioned what really happened the night of the accident for a while now." Clark was so nervous it was almost cute. "Truth is, you really did hit me with your car." From there the most outrageous story seemed to spill fourth from his friend's lips. So outrageous in fact, it had to be true...seeing the spaceship also didn't hurt.

Once upon a time his first thought would have been how he could spin this for his benefit. Not now though, now having one of the people he cares most about entrusting him with this, the first thought that came to him was the consequences for Clark if someone was to find out. Instantly he was running through all the ways he could protect Clark and his secret.

"I swear Clark, Mr. Kent, I will never betray your trust." He saw Mr. Kent glance behind him, and turned to see Ryan give an almost imperceptible nod. It was confusing, but he wasn't going to push his luck getting any more information out of the people there. Besides, he was finding it meant more when that trust was earned.

"That's not all," He turned his attention to Chris, and watched him throw his hand forward, the heavy wooden door flying open as if propelled by some invisible force.

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"He'd say yes you know." Lex turned at the sound of the voice, tearing his eyes away from the current object of his obsession. After finding out that Clark was an alien and Chris a witch, hearing that Ryan had the ability to read minds came as less of a shock.

"I don't know what you're talking about." He knew it was futile lying to the kid that could get the truth straight from his own head, but it was habit by now to just deny what it was he really wanted, lest it get back to his father.

"He's 16, and will be 17 soon, so it's not illegal, besides, you'd be a much better option than the others sniffing around him." He felt the jealousy flare up within him at the thought of him with someone else, and excused himself when he saw some lowly high school boy preparing to approach.

"Chris, do you have a moment? I'd like to talk to you...alone." He asked as he stepped between his friend and the jock, looking said jock up and down, before dismissing him. He really hoped Ryan wasn't trying to steer him wrong.

"Sure thing Lex." He smirked at the jock before following Chris outside, had he stayed a little longer, he would have realized the jock was just heading toward the bathroom, which Chris had been standing in front of talking to a friend. He probably would have also noticed the self satisfied grin on Ryan's face and known he'd been duped into making a move. As it was, he didn't and was determined to make his move...if only he knew what to say.

"It's a nice night." He couldn't believe how nervous he was, he'd never had problems asking girls and the occasional guy out, but they were never someone he cared about, someone he thought he might be able to see a future with.

"It is, but I can't help but wonder if you really brought me out here to discuss the weather." Normally he would expect to see a knowing smirk or flirtatious grin on the face of the person he was trying to pick up. That was probably why he found Chris's shy smile that mich more endearing.

"No, you're right, I was hoping to ask you out on a date...with me." He thought he should clarify when he saw the shocked look on Chris's face, and had to fight back the urge to fidget while waiting for the answer, he hadn't been this nervous since he was a teenager asking his first crush out. Then there had been nothing to worry about, it was a rare person who turned down the chance to have the Luthor money spent on them. It didn't help his nerves to know Chris was one of these rare people.

"I'd like that Lex." He had never been so excited to have someone agree to a date in his life.

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It had been a shock when they realized that Lex and Ryan had both been kidnapped, and while the Kents were concerned for both it was obvious they were a little more concerned for the little telepath. Which was one of the reasons he showed up at Lex's mansion by himself.

"You really had Clark thinking you were leaving when you gave him that sword." Chris said as he walked into Lex's office. He wasn't going to admit how worried he'd been when he'd heard that Lex was heading to Metropolis to meet with his father. He'd tried to tell himself that Lex wouldn't ask him out, then move back to Metropolis, but he also knew how much Lex wanted to be in Metropolis.

"Was he the only one?" Lex asked, looking up from whatever it was he was working on, the little grin on his face told Chris that he knew of Chris's own fears. For this reason alone he found it hard to meet Lex's eyes.

He heard the chair behind the desk move, but didn't look up till he felt Lex's hands on his shoulders, "After going to Jonathan and Martha Kent to get their approval to take you out on a date, you don't really think I'd leave town before I have the chance to enjoy that date now do you?"

"You asked Jonathan _and_ Martha?" He knew Lex wouldn't lie to him about this, but at the same time, they weren't really his parents.

"Of course I asked them, what parent wouldn't be nervous with their 16 year old dating someone so much older than them. Especially when that someone has my reputation." Chris was about to object, say that Lex wasn't the man he was making himself out to be, but Lex held up a hand to stop him. "That reputation was earned, and will take a while for me to repair, but I'm willing to do what it takes to get it done."

"Now, do the Kents know you're here?" He smiled when Chris nodded, "That was one of Jonathan's stipulations, you are not to be over here without them knowing it." He was a little surprised to find out there were stipulations, but also pleased that the Kents felt the need to set them to protect him. At least they didn't have the ability to orb in whenever they wanted.

"I asked to borrow the truck, unlike Clark, I can't run over here any time I want." There was no heat in his voice, as he was not envious of Clark's powers, nor the exhausting amount of control the other boy must always exert. "I told Jonathan that I wanted to check on you, I mean, you were thrown from a moving car and all."

"It wasn't moving all that fast, in fact, I think all the scratches have healed." They had questioned if more than Lex's hair had been affected by the meteor shower, as he never got sick and healed very quickly after it hit.

"I'm glad to hear it." It was at that moment that he realized just how close they were standing, he could practically feel the heat radiating off Lex's body. "I should head back." As much as he wanted to kiss Lex, a much bigger part was terrified to even think of it. What if he didn't measure up to any of Lex's previous partners, or Lex wanted to take it beyond kissing. He knew Lex wouldn't pressure him, but would he lose interest if it took him too long to decide he was ready? He had heard talk in the locker room about how great everything beyond kissing was, and Lex had way more experience than any of those boys, so would he want it more?

"You are thinking too hard," He startled at Lex's voice, and was pretty sure the other man knew what he was thinking judging by the smirk on his face. "We haven't even had our first date yet so calm down. There is no need to get ahead of ourselves and get all worked up. When the first date goes well, we'll plan a second one, followed by a third, then weeks, months, years down the road, when you're ready we will do what it is you were thinking of." He felt himself relax, while at the same time his embarrassment grew, he almost missed the fact that Lex had alluded to more than one date in their future.

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"You look like you could use some help." Chris approached the counter where a very stressed out Lana Lang was trying to pour coffee.

"I really hope this day can't get any worse. I had to let someone go because they were taking money out of the cash register, and one of the other girls called in sick, so I'm short handed." She didn't even try and hide how stressed she was.

"Where does this go?" He asked taking the tray from her. It almost looked like she didn't believe him at first, but quickly realized he was serious, and told him the table. "You pour while I serve, and we'll split the tips." He had time to kill while Clark finished helping Chloe at the Torch, putting out the school newspaper.

"You're serious?" She sounded hopeful, so he knew he wasn't imposing, not that he thought he was.

"Sure, I've worked as a server before." He didn't feel the need to mention that he'd only worked at the restaraunt his mom opened when he was little, and only when it was slow. He was pretty sure he could handle this.

"You officially have a job if you want it." Lana told him later as the two were wiping down tables, the majority of their customers having cleared out.

"I'll have to talk it over with Jonathan and Martha, make sure they can spare me on the farm, but I'm sure I can do a couple of shifts after school." He liked the idea of having a job where he could earn some money of his own. Maybe even help relieve a little bit of the burdon on the farm.

"Taking on some shifts where?" They both turned to see Lex walk in, "Martha told me I would find you here, asked me to tell you she'd be by to pick you up after she and Clark were done at the store."

"Thanks." He smiled, glad to know he hadn't been forgotten, it was getting kinda late.

"Then I told her I'd give you a ride home, I had something I wanted to talk to Jonathan about anyways." He was sure there was nothing Lex wanted to talk about, he was just respecting Chris's wishes not to go public with their relationship, especially since they weren't having their first date till that Saturday.

"I'll just get my things then." If Lana saw through their excuse she was kind enough not to say anything.

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 _An. The pole for this story is now closed, thank you to everyone who voted._


	4. Chapter 4

_I don't own Charmed or Smallville!_

"You're kidding, right?" Chris looked apprehensively at Lex as he led two horses out of the stables. "There is no way you're getting me up on one of those." He turned to walk in the other direction.

Lex had picked him up from the farm, and brought him back to the mansion so they could have their first date in private. He knew there would be a media frenzy just like there was whenever Lex went out on a date, and he knew he wasn't ready to face that. That was why Lex had plannedfor them to stay on the Luthor property, away from prying eyes.

"Don't tell me your afraid of horses?" Lex's tone was teasing, as he chased him out of the stables.

"I'm not afraid of them." He turned back to glare at his date, "I'm terrified of them, there's a difference." He looked away, not wanting Lex to see just how ashamed of his fear he really was.

"I'll have the helicopter take us to where I had our picnic set up." Lex didn't belittle him, or laugh at his fears, instead he directed one of the grooms to unsaddle the horses, before taking Chris's hand and leading him to the other side of the mansion where the helicopter landing pad was. "You're not afraid of heights are you?" Chris just shook his head, thinking of all the times his father took him to the top of the Golden Gate Bridge after Leo had gotten his powers back. It would seem that his aunt Paige was having too much trouble keeping up with her charges and healing the family, so the Elders reinstated Leo to help lighten the load.

The helicopter was already running when they got to the landing strip, and Lex directed him in first before climbing in after him and giving the pilot the coordinates of where they were going.

"We'll have to do a little hiking, but it'll be worth it when you see where I'm taking you." Lex had to yell to be heard over the helicopter taking off. Chris nodded before looking out the window, watching the scenery fly by.

It was a brief ride to where they were going, and the hike was not all that strenuous, but Lex had been right about it being worth it. The clearing was small, but beautiful with wild flowers just starting to bloom. It was so very serene and tranquil.

"I know we've been friends for a while, but I feel like I know so little about you." He knew Lex wasn't fishing for information on his past, but rather just making conversation. Lex would never pressure him into revealing more than he was comfortable with.

"What do you want to know." He was willing to answer some questions, but like always would be selective. The two had just finished lunch, and were laying back in the grass relaxing.

"What is with this fear of horses?" Lex settled on an easy one and Chris smiled in thanks.

"I was at this dude ranch with my family on vacation when I was little, probably eight or so at the time. Well, my older brother who had just turned 10 decided he wanted to go check out the herd of wild mustangs that lived on the property, and took me with him." He left out the minor detail that Wyatt had orbed the two of them directly to the herd.

"I think I see were this is going." He saw the slight grin on Lex's face as the man imagined just what he and Wyatt hoped to achieve by their little adventure.

"Yeah, well, something spooked the herd," that something being a demon, "and before I know it there is a stamped coming right for me, and my brother is no where to be seen." Wyatt had orbed back to their parents in his frightened state, leaving him behind. "I don't remember much after that, my dad says they found me crouching behind a fallen tree, hoof prints on either side of it wher the herd had just jumped right over it. I had a concussion and a broken arm," That his aunt Paige healed right up for him. That was when the elders decided to give his dad his powers back.

"You're lucky you weren't killed." Lex sounded shocked, which was funny, cause Chris rarely ever thought of this.

"We were lucky our mom didn't skin us alive." He laughed as he remembered how angry his mother had been, once she'd seen for herself they were ok. "She always used to accuse my brother and I of scaring years off her life." He and Wyatt were always getting into mischief, and while their mother acted like it drove her nuts, he knew she was secretly entertained by it.

"What did your parents do for a living?" He appreciated Lex keeping the questions simple, not ready to share his whole past with the other man.

"Well, mom owned a night club, and had her own restaraunt, and dad helped her run them." He was pretty sure he wasn't giving away too much, but knowing Lex the way he did, it wouldn't surprise him if the man was able to read between the lines.

Conversation flowed easily between the two, much like it usually did, and before he knew it Lex was telling him that it was getting late and they needed to head back if they wanted to make sure he was home by curfew. He was pretty sure Jonathan and Martha would not be too pleased with Lex if hewas late dropping him off after their first date.

"I had a great time tonight." Chris said once Lex had walked him to the door, they had a couple of minutes before his curfew, and he was actually surprised by it. Lex normally wasn't one to follow the rules.

"Then you'll want to do it again sometime soon?" Chris admired how sure of himself Lex was, he wished he had that kind of confidence.

"Yeah, I'd like that." He confirmed, suddenly nervous, wondering if he should kiss Lex goodnight, or how the date was supposed to end. He was relieved when Lex made the decision to close the distance between them, and pressed his lips against Chris's own an a gentle but, in Chris's opinion, perfect kiss.

He was glad to see he wasn't the only one in a daze after the kiss ended, Lex's eyes seemed to cloud over just a little. Lex was about to lean in again when they heard someone clearing their throat, and saw Jonathan standing behind the door with his arms crossed, and a stern expression on his face. He would have been extremely intimidating if not for the amusement shining in his eyes.

"I guess this is my hint that it's time to say goodnight." Lex grinned before leaning in for a final brief kiss, not one to give in entirely to the demands of others.

"Goodnight then." Chris said as he moved toward the door that was now being held open by Jonathan.

"Goodnight Lex," Jonathan called out to the retreating figure, who turned with a smile and a wave of acknowledgment.

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Clark stared down the crazed class president hopeful, having just been confronted her about her control over the bees that were attacking people. Sasha Woodman had been attacked by a hive of bees in the deepest meteor crater in Smallville, and had somehow become the "queen" of the bees from the surrounding areas.

He felt panic as well as anger rise up in him when she threatened his mother, and sped off at full speed to the field she was working in. In his hurry to protect her, he didn't notice the swarm split into two, one half of it heading in the opposite direction.

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"Everything ok over there?" Jonathan asked Chris as the two of them drove in silence on their way back from the hardware store. He was used to Chris's quiet brooding by now, but hoped that the boy might actually open up to him for once. He'd always had an open and honest relationship with Clark, and wished things could be similar with Chris.

"Nothing, just have a lot on my mind is all." He wondered if it was his past Chris was thinking about. The boy was fiddling with the necklace around his neck, a habit Jonathan noticed he did a lot. Sometimes he'd grip it tight in his hands like he was going to rip it off at any moment, but then his grip would loosen, and he's look deflated.

"I'm here to listen if you want to talk about it." He doubted he would take him up on it, Chris didn't like to talk about his problems. Even though he'd trusted them with his telekinesis, there was still so much he kept to him self.

"I just sometimes wonder what my family would think of me if they saw me now." This was the first time Chris had brought up his family in the seven months he'd lived with them, and he wasn't about to stop him. They knew so little of his past, the first record they found on him was him being found on the streets of New Jersey, and running away from his first foster home shortly after, which led them to believe he was from the East Coast. The records the sheriff got on him said he'd lived there, living on the streets, before being found and placed in foster care. There had been signs of abuse in the first home he ran away from, he was found with strange bruises, and the second and third homes weren't any better.

"I don't see what's not to be proud of." He looked over, and saw Chris looking at him in suprise, so he elaborated, "You work hard both on the farm and at school, get good grades, and still manage to find time to work at the Talon, and spend time with Lex." Sure it had only been a week since their first date, but he'd heard them talking on the phone, and Lex had been over for dinner one night, and taken Chris out for dinner another. "I just don't want to see you run yourself ragged." He didn't have Clark's abilities, but still did just as much as he did on the farm.

"Thanks, it means a lot to hear you say that." He could tell he'd embarrassed the kid, but felt it was important to tell him just how proud of him he and Martha were. "I guess the thing I worry most about is what they'd think of Lex if they were to meet him." He knew the younger man ment a lot to Chris, and didn't deny the fact that many people would be put off by their age difference. Sure in ten years it wouldn't be a big deal, but right now all people would see is a 21 year old man taking advantage of a 16 year old boy. Never mind that maturity wise, they were probably on the same level with Chris maybe being a bit more mature than Lex.

Hell, he even had issues with it if he were honest, it was the reason he and Martha laid out so many rules for the two. Rules like they didn't want Chris at the mansion when no one else was, granted that didn't restrict them much, as Lex had 24/7 security on the property. He was also not allowed to take Chris out of town without their permission. And most importantly, he was not allowed to go more than five miles over the speed limit with Chris in his car.

"I'm not going to lie to you, they probably wouldn't like it at first, but I'm sure they'd eventually be able to see how good you two are for each other." It was true, even before the two decided to date, Chris, and Clark, had helped Lex to be more caring about others, and Lex, and Clark, had been helping Chris with his inferiority complex. Chris and Lex were also helping Clark to accept what he was, and Chris had been essential to helping Clark really hoan in his X-ray vision when that ability first sprang up.

"Speak of the devil." Lex's porch was pulled off to the side of the road, and the man himself was next to it changing a flat tire. "Need some help?" He asked as he and Chris climbed out of the car, but saw he was almost finished. "Thought you had people to do that for you."

"Takes too long for them to get here, and I'm not always the most patient of people, so I had my father's driver teach me when I was 17." Lex informed them as he finished tightening the lug nuts. He was about say something else, but froze, "Do you hear that?"

They all looked around for the strange sound, "Run! Miller's pond' Go!" Jonathan was the first to see the giant swarm of bees, and shoved the two in the direction of said pond. They were almost to the pond when he noticed Chris swatting at himself, an realized the bees were around them now, and obviously targeting Chris.

Lex obviously noticed this as well, as he somehow found it in him to run faster and grabbed Chris propelling the two of them into the water, Jonathan following them into the water just moments later.

"Mr. Kent! He can't breath!" Lex's panicked voice was the first thing he heard when he came up for air, and he swam over to wher Lex was keeping Chris afloat, while Chris gasped for air, each gasp more urgent than the last.

"He must be allergic to the bees, we need to get him to the hospital." He saw that what remained of the swarm, half of it now floating on the surface of the pond, was now heading away from them. "Come on, we gotta get him to the hospital."

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 _An. Sorry for the cliffhanger, but I promise to not leave it hanging for long. Now I want to get people's opinion. The threesome won, so it will be a Lex/Clark/Chris pairing, but what I want to know now is if anyone wants to see mpreg in this story. Originally I thought no, but a little "Super Charmed" offspring, maybe with Lex's intelligence, is intriguing._


	5. Chapter 5

_I don't own Charmed or Smallville!_

"Dad!" "Jonathan!" His dad and Lex were sitting in the waiting room at the hospital having brought Chris straight in. He'd been shocked when his mom informed him that his dad and Lex had rushed Chris to the hospital, that he'd been stung and had stopped breathing. They'd rushed right to the hospital, and he was relieved to see that his dad and Lex weren't looking like someone had died.

"He's going to be ok Martha." His dad said, putting his hands on his mother's shoulders to get her to calm down. "The doctor was just here, Chris is going to be just fine. They were able to get the swelling down, and he's breathing on his own again. They want to keep him over night, and are moving him to another room as we speak. Once they get him settled they'll let us see him."

"The doctor said he'll have to carry an EpiPen on him from now on, but other than that he's going to be fine." Lex stepped forward, holding out all but one of the EpiPens the doctor had given them when he'd come to fill them in on Chris's condition. "I think it best if I hold onto one, you know just in case." It was easy to see just how shaken he'd been by the whole ordeal, and Clark couldn't blame him. He'd been terrified to think that Chris could have been dying, and he wasn't in love with him like Lex so obviously was.

"We brought you some clothes to change into, I'm sure you're tired of being in those wet ones." His dad seemed relieved when his mom said this, "Lex, we brought you some of Clark's sweats, they may be a little big, but they'll be more comfortable than Chris's, we thought his might be a little tight on you." Lex thanked them, looking touched that they'd thought of him. What he hadn't been expecting was the feelings he got seeing Lex in his clothes.

"Everything alright there Clark?" Lex asked, having come back from changing in the nearest bathroom.

"Yeah, fine." He was saved from having to say any more by the nurse returning to tell them that Chris was settled and ready for visitors. He'd been expecting to see Chris sleeping when they walked into his room, but instead he was awake and alert.

"Hey sweetheart, how are you feeling?" His mother asked as she came in and sat down on the bed next to Chris smoothing the hair out of his eyes.

"Better, I'm just glad I can breath again." Chris said with a faint smile. It was clear how tired he was, and his voice was horse so he appeared to be in some pain.

"Did you know you were allergic to bees?" His dad asked the question they'd all been thinking.

"Not a clue, I mean my brother and I loved to play outside, but I guess I was just lucky enough to never get stung. We never really had any problems with allergies, so my parents never had any need to get us tested." Chris informed them, and it made sense that he wouldn't have known to carry EpiPens on him.

"Well, we're just glad you're ok." His dad said as he squeezed Chris's shoulder, then hurried his mom and him out of the room to give Lex and Chris some time alone. As he was walking by the window to the room he couldn't help but look in and watch as Lex leaned in and kissed Chris. It was hard to watch them interact with eachother, feeling for some strange reason that he was being left out.

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"How's Lex doing?" Clark was out at the Spring Formal with Chloe, and while Chris had originally had plans with Lex they had been canceled while Lex's father came to town, if for no other reason that to keep Lionel from finding out about their relationship for as long as possible. Lex was afraid of his dad finding some way to use Chris against him, especially now that the two of them were at odds about Lex joining back up with Luthor Corp, and shutting down the Smallville plant that Lex had turned around.

As a result he was home alone with the Martha and Jonathan keeping an eye on the storm that was rolling in. "He's stressed out, blaming himself for the people who are about to lose their jobs. I just wish there was something I could do to help him."

"That's normal, to want to help the ones we love when they are going through hard times." Martha was quick to placate him, and he couldn't help but smile at how accepting she was of his relationship with Lex. He and Lex had only been dating for a little over a month, and already everything felt right. So right in fact, he wondered if this was how his parents had felt about each other when they first got together. The only confusing thing was the feeling of something missing he would get sometimes when he and Lex were together.

"Alright, I think we need to be heading to the storm cellar now." Jonathan said as he came into the room, and ushered them out of it and toward the cellar. When they got to the cellar they found they were not the only ones in it. A reporter who'd been investigating the strange happenings in Smallville, and had taken an interest in Clark, was in the cellar taking pictures of the space ship.

After that things started to happen very quickly. One minute Jonathan was arguing with the reporter, and the next they were running out is tornado. He'd gone to follow them, but Martha had pulled him back down into the cellar, refusing to let him go. They both turned when it got brighter, and before they had much time to react the ship had emitted a burst of energy, and then they were both unconscious, Martha still holding him protectively in her arms.

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Chris gently knocked on the door to Lionel's hospital room, seeing the man was asleep. He was hoping Lex had a moment for him to thank him for saving Jonathan and Clark out in the forest.

"Hey, how's your dad?" He aske once Lex joined him in the hallway. He started to worry when he noticed how uncomfortable Lex looked.

"He's blind, I made a decision and it was the wrong one." There may have been no love lost between Lex and his father, but that didn't mean he wanted him blind.

"That wasn't your fault, you did what you thought best, you couldn't have done any more than that." He tried to reach out for him, but Lex pulled away. His heart sank, and he didn't need his aunt Phoebe's powers of premonition to know what was coming next.

"I think we need to put things on hold for a while, just until things with my father are settled." Lex couldn't even look at him as he said it, which told Chris that his heart wasn't in it.

"Lex, please, your father, he can't do anything to us if we don't let him. But if we do this if we end things he wins." Chris tried to reason with him, but it was no use. He swore he could feel his heart breaking.

"I can hear your mind working from here, wondering how you can get Lex to see things your way." Chris turned to see Lionel sitting up in bed staring straight ahead with unseeing eyes. He wanted to say he felt sorry for the man, but he didn't have it in him to care for a man who mistreated his son the way Lionel did.

"Unlike you, I only want what's best for him. If he thinks that going our separate, well then I'll just have to deal with that. But if you thing you're going to scare me away, well then you have another thing coming, I've seen and dealt with people much more frightening than you." Nevermind that those "people" we're actually demons with more fire power than Lionel Luthor would ever have.

"That almost sounds like a challenge to me." Chris knew he was playing with fire here, but it never occurred to him to back down. "However, since I'm feeling generous I will make you a deal, I will give you 5 million dollars to disappear from Smallville and Lex's life forever."

"And leave Lex suseptable to whatever it is you have rolling around in that twisted little head of yours, I should think not. No you keep your money, I hope it lends you comfort when you're old and alone." He could see the man was practically seething, and was particularly proud of himself, now if he could pull off the next part of his scheme he'd be all set.

"You'd better be careful young man, people who cross me tend to meet with unfortunate accidents. I'd hate to see such a young life cut short." He knew the man wouldn't hesitate to follow through.

"That almost sounds like a threat Mr. Luthor." Chris was hoping he could bait him just a little further. It seemed the man was angry enough, he hoped this was all it would take.

"Oh that's a promise Mr..." There were some benefits to having almost no one know who you were, made anonymity that much easier.

"My name doesn't matter," Chris said, removing an item from his pocket and fiddling with it, _"Oh that's a promise Mr..."_ He saw something breifly pass over Lionel's face, but it passed so quick he didn't know what it was. "Now I have a promise for you Mr Luthor. If anything happens to me, or anyone I care about...including your son, I will release this tape. I can't imagine people will be very impressed with you threaten a teenaged boy."

"It would seem I underestimated you, you may be worthy of a Luthor yet...threatening a blind man and all" He knew when someone was trying to bait him, he hadn't survived two years on his own by accident.

"You don't get to play the victim here, maybe this is your penance for all the pain and suffering you caused. If it is, I for one hope it is only the beginning of it" That said he turned on his heal and came face to face with a stunned Lex.

"I think you should leave Mr. Bennet, my father needs his rest, not to hear people throwing hateful remarks at him." Judging by the fact that Lex didn't mention any threats, he was pretty sure the man didn't hear either his or Lionel's.

"Maybe I should have a word with the Kents, let them know who it is they really have living with them. I'm starting to think maybe your family had the right idea and turned you out." And there was the sign his relationship with Lex was truly over. He'd told lex that his biggest fear was that he'd do something to make the Kents not welcome him, that he'd hurt them just like he'd done to his family.

"He has a tape on him Lex, he was trying to blackmail me with it. Figured he couldn't get anything else from you, so he'd try me." Lionel was such a good actor, Chris would have probably listened to him too.

"Give me the tape Chris." Lex held out his hand, and Chris had no choice but to comply. Lex est about unraveling the tape in front of him, "Now get out."

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 _AN: There is now a pole up on wether or not this should be Mpreg, if so Chris will have gotten the ability in the storm cellar with Martha._


	6. Chapter 6

_I don't own Charmed or Smallville!_

 _"You were supposed to be watching her Chris!" His mother yelled at him as his father healed the bruises on Melinda's arms where the man had grabbed her. "Thank god your brother showed up when he did, or else who knows what would have happened." Wyatt had shown up when the man had been forcing Melinda into his car, and had been able to save her._

 _"I don't want to hear it right now, just go to your room." She cut him off when he tried to explain..._

Chris sat up so quick that he almost slammed his head into Jonathan's, who'd been trying to wake him up. "You ok?" They had been walking on eggshells around him since he and Lex broke up six months ago, and he wished they'd stop. Lex had made good on his promise and told the Kents about him "taunting" Lionel about his blindness. They obviously didn't throw him out, but they kept a closer watch on him, making him feel like they were just waiting for him to snap and show his true colors.

"I'm fine." He tried to reassure him, but he was anything but fine. The dreams had been more frequent lately, but usually he didn't wake anyone up.

"You want to talk about it?" He shook his head no, but more than anything he wanted someone to know, and to tell him everything was ok. "You kept saying you were sorry, I hope you weren't talking about Luthor." Jonathan had to be talking about Lionel, as he'd been calling Lex by his first name since the' brought him in on the secret.

Digging around under his pillow he pulled out a small cassette and a hand held recorder, "I'm just sorry I lied to Lex."

He put the tape in the recorder, pressed play, and suddenly Lionel Luthor's voice filled the room. _"You'd better be careful young man, people who cross me tend to meet with unfortunate accidents. I'd hate to see such a young life cut short."_

"Lex walked in after that, and only heard me telling Lionel I thought he may have brought this on himself. Can't say that I blame him for ending things, his father had just lost his sight, and I'm standing there telling him he had it coming." He just shrugged, as though this hardly bothered him anymore, even if it devastated him every time he and Lex ran into each other and things got uncomfortable.

"That was some quick thinking." Jonathan said as he handed him the tape back, "Does Lionel know you still have that?" He seemed a little apprehensive, and Chris wondered if the man worried about the repercussions that would fall onto his family if Lionel found out about the tape.

"He may have been warned something would get out if he tried to mess with the people I cared about." He'd gone over to return the jacket lex had let him borrow, and at a time he'd known Lex would be gone. He had played the tape again, letting Lionel know his promise still stood, "I've given copies of the tape to a few friends who will send it to the authorities if I go missing." At least that's what he told Lionel, sure he'd made copies, but he didn't have friends to give them to, so they were hidden throughout the room the Kents had give them in their house.

"If it's alright with you I'd like a copy of that too, as well as your word that if you choose to leave us you'll tell me first. I won't stand in your way should you decide to go, but would like to know you're safe."There was something in the man's voice that told him he'd not make it easy for him to leave either. It made him feel as though someone was willing to fight to keep him in their life.

Nodding he handed him the tape, then gave him two more envelopes, "These need to be mailed if I go missing, each one has a copy of the tape, and the cops are people I trust." Sure enough, they were addressed to two different police stations, one on the east coast, one on the west.

"You think..." Jonathan looked down at who the envelopes were addressed to, "Darryl Morris and Henry Mitchell can be trusted not to be bought Lionel?" He knew Jonathan was looking our for him, using his previous experience with the man. It was no secret Lionel thought everyone could be bought, or that most of the time he was correct.

"Yeah, they're some of the best men I know, and they know some pretty powerful people." No to mention those people they knew were his family, and they themselves were also family or like family.

"If you're sure," Jonathan stood, taking the envelopes with him, "Now, since we're both up, how bout we get a head start on those chores." Chris groaned, but it was more for show than anything else, he really didn't mind helping around the farm, liked to be kept busy. It have him less time to think about his family...and about Lex marrying his Biology teacher.

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"Where's my dad?" Chris stopped loading bales of hay into the back of the truck, and turned to give Clark his full attention. He also hoped the other boy hadn't seen the large, circular burn scar on his right shoulder. It would appear he was to preoccupied with finding Jonathan to notice the scar, and he almost breathed a sigh of relief.

"I haven't seen him before he went to talk to Miss Atkins...sorry Mrs Luthor, I don't think he's come back yet." He was putting on his shirt, feeling uncomfortable with the possibility of the burn being noticed. "Wait, how did you get out of jail?"

Clark had recently developed a new ability, he started shooting high amounts of heat out his eyes, starting multiple fire's, and had been arrested for it. Luckily he'd had time to work on controlling it, they had both blushed profusely when they'd figured out what the trigger was, Clark being turned on, but once they had, he'd gained control over it pretty quick.

"Chloe just told me that Desiree is able to control people using pheromones, she tried to use them on me to have me kill Lex." Heis heart about stopped when he heard that, especially when he realized the man he thought of as a second father may be forced to to the despicable act. That it was Lex who might die hurt too much to think about.

"Take me with you." He knew Clark was going to use his super speed to get to the mansion, and that there was no way he could hope to keep up if he was left behind, "I can help Clark, just take me with you." Suddenly he was lifted up bridal style and the Smallville countryside was flying by so fast it was all a blur.

Not even a minute later he was being placed on his feet in Lex's office just in time to see Lex fall to the ground, while Jonathan stood there holding a gun. He threw his hand out, sending the man and gun flying, but while he was focused on Jonathan Desiree had somehow managed to set Lex's shirt on fire.

He wasn't distracted enough to miss Desiree run past him and burn her hand on the doorknob to the study. Looking on the shelf next to him he picked up a small statue, and flipped it in his hand once to test its weight before hitting her over the head with it, effectively knocking her out.

"I take it your mother skipped the lesson about never hitting girls." He turned to see a shirtless and somewhat dazed Lex watching him.

"Sure she did, said to only hit the homicidal ones." He was glad he didn't shoot heat out his eyes, as he'd probably burn down the study. He kept glancing down at the pale, bare chest, feeling the temperature in the room continue to rise

"We should see about getting my dad to the doctor." Clark said, hoisting up the unconscious Jonathan.

Lex instead called the cops, and apparently a doctor who made house calls. When the cops showed up he fed them a story about how Desiree had tried to kill him by setting him on fire, and that Clark had saved him by putting the flames out, and Chris had knocked her out before she could escape. He said that Jonathan had come with him and Clark, but had been thrown into the bookshelves in the confusion and knocked out. He'd said he three of them had come to make sure he was okay after seeing Chloe's report on Desiree's alias. Satisfied with the story the sherif left, Clark and Chris leaving at the same time so they could take Jonathan home.

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"You didn't stick around long enough to thank you for saving my life." Lex walked towards where he was hiding in the barn, wanting to give the Kents some family time to make sure each of them were okay for themselves.

"It's the fatal flaw of my family...saving people." His tone was joking, but the number of his ancestors to die protecting innocents made that statement a little too true. "Besides, it felt good to hit her over the head." It was then he remembered why it felt good, "How are you feeling by the way?"

"My back is a little sore, my pride wounded, and ego Bruised at being so thoroughly tricked; but I'm also feeling hopeful." Lex was standing right infront of him now, and looking as though he was trying to hold himself back from something.

"Hopeful about what?" He couldn't help but ask, as it seemed a little out of place with the other thing Lex had listed.

"I'm hopeful that the fact that you were there with Clark to save me means that I haven't completely destroyed my chances with you." Lex breath caught, and his eyes snapped up to meet Lex's. "When I origionally went to San Fransisco on business, I had hoped some time away would allow me to think of an appropriate way to get you back. I even went so far as to seek advice from an advice columnist."

"An advice colomnist, really?" He hoped he came off as nonchalant, "You actually wrote a letter to an advice columnist?" The fact that Lex was willing to ask anyone for help really said a lot.

"I was told Phoebe gave the best advice, and I wasn't about to screw things up with you again, so I stormed into her office, and instead of throwing me out, she sat there and listened to me." He could just imagine how that meeting went, and thanked God that his Aunt was as understanding as she was...or maybe her power of empathy picked up something Lex was feeling pretty strongly at the time.

"And what did she have to say?" It made him miss his family all that much more, knowing Lex had spoken with one of them recently.

"She told me to lay everything out on the line for you, so here goes." Lex took a deep breath as though to prepare himsel, "I knew the second you walked out of my father's hospital room that I over reacted, and I also knew that what I had done, destroying the tape, had likely put you in danger with my father. He was too eager for me to get it, which means you probably had something you could use against him as leverage stored on it. I swear to you I tried to salvage it, but my techs couldn't find anything usable on it."

"That's because you destroyed my history class lecture, I swapped out the tape before I gave it to you." Chris couldnt help but grin at the thought of pulling one over on both the Luthor men.

"You are absolutely amazing." Lex was practically beaming at him, "So that leads me to the last part of her advice...I want to tell you how sorry I am for the way I treated you at the hospital. I was so upset with myself for hesitating when it came to saving my father's life, and then making the medical decision that blinded him that I thought I had to pay for it by giving up the one thing that means the most to me. I love you Chris, and was going to tell you when I got back from my trip, but then I met Desiree, and you know what happened next."

"Lex, I don't know what to say." He saw the other man deflate and his heart constricted, "I know we do crazy things for our parents, and the fact that you let me go for the man who's love you have craved since you were a child hasn't made me love you any less."

"I'm sensing a but." Lex looked crestfallen and Chris almost felt bad.

"But if you do that to me again there will be no more second chances." Lex looked shocked at his words, so Chris used that to his advantage and grabbed him by the lapels of his jacket, and pulled him in for a kiss.


	7. Chapter 7

_I don't own Charmed or Smallville!_

"Do I need to worry about competition?" Phoebe turned to see her husband standing in the doorway of her office, their three daughters staring wide eyed at the most ostentatious flower arrangement she'd ever seen.

"Apparently this is Lex Luthor's way of saying thank you for saving his relationship." She had seen the pictures of the man and his young boyfriend in a magazine. It was obvious the picture hadn't been authorized by either party as it was taken from a distance, and the younger man's face was a little distorted, the most she could make out was dark hair and eyes.

She'd read the article, curious as to who it was that had stolen the heart of the heir to one of the richest men on the planet, not to mention the fact that his own company was starting to show promise. She was suprised to find out that his partner was so young, younger than her own nephew. In fact, the young man was right around Chris's age, if Chris was even still alive.

She still remember the day her nephew ran away, how could any of them forget it. She'd been so worried when her sister had called telling her that Melinda had almost been kidnapped, that she'd gone right over there with her own daughters to check on everyone. She hadn't been there long before there was a loud commotion from upstairs, and they rushed upstairs to find a giant hole in the wall, and Chris standing on one side, while Wyatt was lying on the other side unconscious and bleeding from multiple places.

Piper and Leo had rushed to their eldest, but Phoebe had almost been crippled by the waves of self hate and fear she felt coming from the younger brother. She blamed herself for Chris being gone, had she just pulled herself together she would have been able to go after him, to stop him from running, but his pain had been too much for her to feel.

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 _"Hey Jonathan, do you have a second?" Chris could see the man was busy, he was always busy, but he'd been working up the courage to do this all day, and if he didn't do it now he probably never would._

 _"Sure thing Chris, is everything alright?" He took off his gloves, giving Chris his full attention, and Chris had trouble stopping himself from fidgeting._

 _"I was wondering if you'd teach me to ride a horse? I mean, you taught Clark right?" He'd thought long and hard about this, and decided it was time to face his fears. Besides, there wasn't a whole lot to do in Smallville, and even less that was date worthy._

 _You know you'd have to get near the horse right?" Jonathan asked with a teasing smile. He'd always made sure the horses were out of the barn before mucking out the stalls, as he caught Chris on verge of a panic attack once before. Chris had told him about almost getting trampled, and Jonathan had always made sure the stalls were empty of horses._

 _"I know, but I also know that having a crippling fear of horses isn't very practical while living on a farm" He was suprised when Jonathan was willing to stop what he was doing and start with the lesson right then and there._

 _They both want out to the pasture where the few horses they owned were grazing, and he stood at the fence while Jonathan selected one th attach a lead rope to, and brought it over to him. "First things first, we gotta get you used to being around them."_

 _It took him some time, but he finally worked up the nerve to approach the horse, thankful as Jonathan stood there patiently keeping the animal calm. They got as far as him petting the horse, but he couldn't bring himself to get on the animal._

 _"Don't worry about it, it takes time to get over that kind of trauma." Jonathan said as he put an arm around him, before leading him back toward the barn._

That had been three months ago, in fact, right after the tornado. It had only taken him 2 months to work up the courage to actually get on the horse, but Jonathan never gave up on him.

He reminded him so much of his own dad sometimes that it lessened the longing he felt for the man by a fraction of a degree. His dad had never made his fears seem trivial, and showed pride whenever he'd faced them, no matter how small the accomplishment.

"What's on your mind?" He was pulled from his thoughts by the voice of the man on the horse next to him. Every Saturday he and Jonathan would get up early and go for a ride, sometimes Martha and/or Clark would even join them.

"Is there anything Clark could ever do to make you stop loving him?" He wasn't sure what he wanted the answe to be, if Jonathan said there was, then maybe his parents had stopped loving him a long time ago. If he said there wasn't, then he could be hurting them by staying gone so long.

"There is nothing a child could do that should make a parent stop loving them." Jonathan's tone showed his conviction, but Chris picked up on what he'd actually said.

" _Should_ be nothing, but obviously there is." It just made his heart sink lower, " would almost killing both of your siblings be one of those things?" He had a hard time fighting back tears remembering the brother and sister he'd adored.

"I said should because there are some people who just shouldn't have kids, Lionel Luthor for example, but no, even almost killing a sibling shouldn't make parents stop loving their kids. They may not like them much, and they definitely hate what what they did." Jonathan turned to look at him, "Especially if it was an accident."

"I lost control of my powers and threw my older brother through a wall." He found himself blurting it out, feeling like a weight had lifted just having someone else know about it. He saw the confused look on Jonathan's face, and launched off into a in depth explanation of witches and demons, and the battle of good versus evil. Last time he'd tried to explain this all to them, they'd had a hard time believing it. Now Jonathat was truly listening, and he hoped he was believing him.

"So what happened to make you want to leave?" Jonathan asked, showing no sign that he though he was lying. In fact, he sounded more curious than anything else.

"I just kept screwing up and hurting my family." He saw he should stop there before he gave Jonathan a reason to make him leave, but it felt so good to open up about it he couldn't stop himself. "It all happened in one day really, I mean I'd always struggled to control my powers, but this time it wasn't just my powers, it was me too. My mom was stressed at home trying to make cookies for a school bake sale, so I offered to take my little sister to the park to get us out of her hair."

By this time the two had stopped riding, and were sitting side by side on the ground, leaning back against a tree. "I saw three demons in the park, and drew them away from Melinda, but what I didn't notice was some pervert watching her. He tried to lure her into his car, and probably would have succeeded had our older brother Wyatt not shown up."

"How old were you guys at the time?" He was surprised by the question, and had to stop and think about it.

"I had just turned 13, almost 14, so Melinda was 11, and Wyatt was 15." It was hard to believe that was almost three years ago, that he'd been living with the Kents for almost a year.

"When I was finally able to lose the demons I went back to where I left Melinda, but she was gone so I ran home to get my mom." He continued.

"I have yet to see what it was you screwed up, you didn't know your sister was being watched, and you protected her from _three_ demons. Not to mention you were a 13 year old kid." He wasn't sure if the man was confused or angry, and if he was angry, then with whom.

"I didn't get the chance to tell them about the demons. When I got home they were waiting for me, dad was healing the bruises Melinda got when she was grabbed, and mom was pacing the floor. She yelled at me the second she saw me for not watching my sister, then sent me to my room."

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 _"What are you doing up here, mom's going to be so mad you didn't listen to her." He looked up to see Wyatt standing in the attic doorway. It had been an hour since he's been sent to his room, and this was the first time anyone had been up to check on him. It told him just how mad his parents were, his dad never let them stew that long when they were in trouble._

 _Turning the Book of Shadows so that Wyatt could see the page it was open to, "Those are the demons that attacked me in the park, luckily there's a vanquishing potion." He went back to filling the potion bottles._

 _"You were attacked by a demon!" Wyatt was quickly shushed by him. He wasn't sure why he didn't want to tell his parents about the demons anymore, it was almost like he was afraid they wouldn't believe him if they didn't attack again, if they didn't see them for them selves._

 _"Three actually, and I'm fine as you can see." Wyatt just nodded as he walked around the table to help fill potion bottles._

 _He stopped short when he got a good look at Chris's shoulder, "You were hit!" He gently grabbed him so that he could examine the large burn, "This looks really bad Chris, you need to tell dad so he can heal you."_

 _"It's fine Wyatt, I'll have him heal it when I'm done here." In reality it hurt like a bitch, but he just grit his teeth and worked through the pain. When Wyatt's hand came to rest on his shoulder again it sent pain coursing through his body, "I said I was fine!" The anger that had been simmering since he'd been sent away without getting to tell his side exploded out of him, and then Wyatt was laying on the other side of a hole in the wall bleeding out._

 _He couldn't believe what he'd just done, Wyatt was only trying to looking out for him. Seconds later his parents and Aunt Phoebe were there, but he didn't stick around long enough to see what they'd do to him this time. He did stay long enough to make sure Wyatt was being healed, before running past his Aunt Phoebe, and out of the house._

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"Was your brother ok...after you threw him through the wall?" There was no judgement or fear in his eyes, just understanding. Almost like he knew that Chris had just been a scared kid, was still just a scared kid.

"Dad was healing him, so he was fine." Chris was sure of that much at least. He was very careful not to say where he was from or give away too many details about his family, as we wouldn't put it past the man to try and find them, thinking it was the right thing to do. He didn't think he could handle his parent's rejection, though, so decided he was better off gone.

"Besides, I know no ones looking for me. I charmed my necklace to work as a sort of cloaking device, as long as I wear it the magical community can't find me." He was about continue, but Jonathan cut him off.

"You were in the hospital for a week without it on." The understanding and compassion in his eyes made it impossible to fight back the tears.

"All they had to do was scry for me once...My dad or aunt could have tried to sense me...I was right there...out in the open...they didn't even try." He was surprised when strong arms wrapped around him, but let the older man hold him close as he cried out his pain at the loss of his family.


	8. Chapter 8

_I don't own Charmed or Smallville!_

"Detective Morris?" Jonathan had thought long and hard about making this call, but seeing how much pain Chris was in, wanting his parents, it felt like it would be worth it if he could give them back to him. Granted it would mean losing him, but then, he doubted Chris would stay away long.

"Yeah, this is him." The man sounded around his age, and hoped that maybe this was a friend of Chris's family.

"This is Jonathan Kent, I was calling to see if you knew a young man by the name of Warren Bennett?" He figured he'd take a chance on this man, as there was no record of a Warren Bennett on the west coast where Henry Mitchell lived. He wondered if maybe this Mitchell had once lived on the East Coast and then later moved to the West Coast, and that's how he knew him.

"The name doesn't ring any bells." He was disheartened, but knew it was a long shot. They didn't even know if Chris had given them his real name.

"Well, thanks anyway" He didn't wait to for the detective to say anymore, rather just hung up the phone. He knew it was a long shot, and to be honest, the thought of Chris leaving them was less than appealing, but at the same time, he had wanted to see him happy. Now he had no idea of how to make that happen.

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"What's this?" Chris asked as Lex walked into the living room at the farm and plopped a wrapped package down in his lap.

"Most people call them birthday presents." Lex said with a grin as he slid his school books over, and sat on the coffee table across from him with a grin on his face. "Open it." He gestured toward the gift, "I worked really hard to find something I knew you'd like, now open it and see if I was right about it." Chris just smiled as he tore into the wrapping paper. Inside were a couple of books, one on different plants and their uses, and the other was an extremely old leather bound book.

"Do you know what this is?" He asked running his fingers over the cover of the older book.

"The person I bought it from said that it was really rare, but useless in the hands of most people, probably the reason she was willing to sell it to me." It was clear Lex was extremely proud of himself, and the fact that Chris's reverence was clear on his face just made Lex that much prouder of himself.

"It's a Book of Shadows." Chris said as he opened the book and looked through some of the pages. "Most wiccan families have them, but they would never give them up." It was nowhere near the size of his families' book, but it was still pretty good sized.

"She said the family it belonged to had all died out, she blamed a demon named Barbas. She was surprised when I told her I wanted to purchase it for another witch. She wasn't actually going to do it until I told her about the symbol on your necklace. She said someone "blessed by magic" wouldn't abuse the powers of this book." Lex was grinning, and though he knew he was curious as to what she meant, he wasn't going to press him to find out. Instead he was going to let him tell him when he was ready...as much as it killed him to do so.

The two spent the rest of the afternoon looking through the book, Chris explaining what he knew of some of the different demons and creatures found in it. He was glad to see Lex found everything so interesting, though it was clear the man didn't really believe most of what was in the book. "It's not anywhere near as big as my family's book, but it's pretty impressive really."

"I'd hate to meet him in a dark alley." Lex joked as they came to the page about the Source.

"You can't, my mom and aunts vanquished him before I was even born." Chris said as if he was talking about the weather, more enthralled with the book in his hands.

"Remind me if I ever meet your mother to use you as a human shield, I can't imagine she'd be pleased to find out her teenaged son was in a relationship with a 22 year old man." Lex grinned as he said it, and Chris knew he was joking, but it did worry him a little bit, what his parents would think if they ever met Lex.

But then again, "My dad was born in 1924, it would be kinda hypocritical to hold our age difference against us." Chris said with a teasing smile, even if it didn't reach his eyes.

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"What do you think you're doing?" Lex was walking into the barn when he heard Chris's voice followed by a thud, and rushed up into the loft to see Clark pinning Chris against the wall as he kissed him hard. He wasn't able to control his anger as he rushed forward and forcibly pulled Clark off his boyfriend, stepping in between the two. "Careful Lex, he's not himself." Chris's hand on his arm was enough to decrease the anger he felt somewhat, but not enough to be ready to forgive his friend instantly. Especially not when he knew what had happened to Chris in the first foster home he'd been in.

He knew Chris hadn't told any of the Kents about how his foster father at the first home had tried to touch him. He'd thrown the guy across the room and been removed the next day. The guy was now in prison, and Lex had pulled a couple of strings to make sure he never got out. After that he'd wanted to pull every file he could find on Chris, had actually ordered them too. They were sitting on his desk when he'd gotten home one day, but he'd burned them when he realized that Chris should really be allowed to come to him with this when he was ready.

"The two of you together...even better." There was a glint in his friend's eyes, and when he lifted his hand up to run his fingers through his hair the light glistened off the red stone in his ring. He started coming at them again, but with a flick of Chris's wrist Clark was flying across the loft and to the ground below.

"Clark?!" They all turned to see Jonathan and Martha staring up at them, before looking down at Clark on the floor, "What on earth is going on out here?"

"Screw this, I'm out of here." They would have tried to stop him, find out what was going on with him, had he not booked it out of there at super speed.

"What the hell just happened?" All of them turned to see Pete standing in the barn having witnessed the whole thing. Clark had told his friend about his powers, but had kept Chris's a secret, "Are you one of them too?" He looked so angry with them, and all four of them found themselves floundering as to what to say to him. "Never mind, I should be used to this family lying to me."

"I'm a witch," Chris blurted out, Pete had made it clear he could be trusted, but no one expected Chris to tell his family secret. "Magical powers and everything, mine happens to be telekinesis." Lex was able to see the fear in his boyfriend's face, he'd learned long ago that Chris acted like things didn't bother him as a way to protect himself.

"Aliens, witches, sure why not, it's Smallville." Pete shrugged it off, but they could easily tell he was a little weirded out by it. "Look, Chloe found out that the class rings were made with red meteor rocks."

"If the green ones make him sick, the red ones what?...Lower his inhibitions?" Lex wasn't sure he believed it, but it was obvious the others looked like they did. "Ok, if the ring is doing that to him, then how do we get it off him?"

"You just answered your own question," Jonathan paused to see if they were all following his line of thought, when they didn't appear to be he continued, "We use the green meteor rocks to weaken him so we can get it off him."

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"How are you feeling?" His mom asked when he finally came into the house after deciding it was time to stop hiding in the barn, and face his parents, Chris, Lex, and Pete. He wished he could forget everything that had happened while he was wearing that stupid ring. He couldn't believe he'd attacked Chris and almost gotten a girl killed, what's worse is that he'd practically forced Chris to tell Pete his secret.

"Like the world's biggest jerk." He couldn't look either Lex or Chris in the eye, knowing that Chris probably felt violated, and Lex probably wanted nothing more than to hit him. "Look I know I did and said things I didn't mean, and you guys have no idea how sorry I am about that."

"Are you really though Clark, I mean, I know you've had this conversation with your dad already. I also know you didn't mean what you said to him, but you did mean it when you hit on Lana and that other girl, the question is, why was Chris among that group?" Lex asked, and Clark really wished this was a conversation they would never have to have.

"I don't know." He put his head down in his hands, really trying to deny the real reason behind kissing Chris, deny the fact that it was better than he'd ever imagined. He didn't want to have to explain to everyone that since Chris had come to Smallville he'd felt drawn to him, more so than Lana most days.

"Clark, you're really not a subtle as you think." His mom said with a smile, but he was thankful to see that his dad, Pete and Chris looked confused, "We, well Lex and I, have noticed the looks you give the two when they're together." He was glad to see Chris shoot Lex and accusatory glare, for not filling him in on what he thought he knew.

"Do you mind if we talk to Clark alone for a couple of minutes." Lex asked politely, and for once Clark almost longed for the days when his dad would have said no just out of spite.

"What ever you decide Clark, your father and I will support you no matter what." His mother was quick to say, and his father gave his shoulder a comforting squeeze as the two of them walked past him out the room.

"Same goes for me you know that right, besides, it's nice to see someone can still get the jump on you even with all your awesome abilities." He remembered the power he felt when the other boy had thrown him across the barn, and he had a strong suspicion that he'd been holding back at the time too. Well at least he knew his parents and Pete would stand by him if no matter what he chose.

"Look Clark, we want you to know it's ok if you're interested, and if you decide this is what you want, a relationship with us, then we'd be willing to give it a try." Chris was the one to start talking, but it was Lex who finished what he was saying.

"We just want you to be sure this is really what you want, we aren't going to start something with you only for you to decide you want to be with Lana or Chloe." He would have been put off by what Lex said, but he knew he'd already hurt Chloe by wavering between her and Lana.

He really had some thinking to do.


	9. Chapter 9

_I don't own Charmed or Smallville!_

It had been five weeks since they'd told Clark they were willing to give a relationship with him a try, and since he'd never approached them about a relationship they were pretty sure he'd picked Lana...not that they were surprised by this. It seemed no matter what Lana did, no matter how hard she pushed, she would always come first in Clark's life.

"What exactly are we doing here?" Chris asked Lex as he followed him into the stables at the mansion. Lex had asked him if he wanted to hang out at the mansion that day, and he'd thought it would be something along the lines of watching a movie, or reading while Lex worked, or something along those lines. What he hadn't been expecting was for Lex to take him out the stables, knowing his fear of horses. Lex's horses were different than the ones on the Kent farm, as most of Lex's horses were quite a bit more temperamental, and he'd heard of more than one person getting thrown.

"Don't worry, they are all in their stalls." Lex wrapped his arm around his waist and led him into the stables. "I recently bought a new mustang, and it is being delivered today, I wanted to make sure it's settled in properly. You don't have to go near any of the horses, just stay in the aisle, and I promise you won't get trampled." He wanted to smack the smirk off his boyfriends face. All he could think was that the mustang was likely to be more temperamental than the other horses Lex owned, as they were a more wild breed.

The horse was a beautiful light tan color, but the mane and tail were an almost black. It was really a magnificent animal, he almost forgot to be afraid of it...then it reared up, and people were scattering away from him, Lex being thrown to the ground dangerously close to hooves. "Whoa, Whoa," He didn't know how he got in front of the horse. Honestly, he remembered his running toward it, but thought he had to have been imagining things, there was no way he'd even go near the beast. Still he made shushing noises in the hopes of calming the animal, knowing he was doing something right when eventually it stopped rearing.

"You alright?" He turned to Lex, and was glad to see the man was back on his feet, but turned when he felt a powerful nudge to his shoulder. "It would seem he has picked his owner." He knew his horror showed plain on his face, but the horse seemed unable to pick up on it as it just nudged him again. "He just wants you to pet him," Lex lifted his hand to show him, but the horse backed away. "Lets try this."

Lex moved behind him, and Chris felt his body press up against him. His breath caught as Lex wrapped an arm around him, taking his wrist and moving his hand up, and just holding it there, letting the horse come to them. He was surprised to find how gentle the animal really was. "What do you say we saddle him up and take him for a ride, you mentioned Jonathan was teaching you to ride."

"I don't know..." He trained off, but the horse didn't appear to want to let it go as it continued to nudge him. "Where are the saddles?"

"You better stay next to me." Chris said once the horse was saddled, and he was perched on top of it. It was plain to see how uncomfortable he was, but Lex seemed content to ride slowly next to him, and before long he felt himself start to relax. Eventually they found themselves out in the woods riding different trails, laughing and joking as they went.

It made it almost easy for him to forget that he'd been forced to go to anger management after taking a 9 iron to a meter-maids car when said meter-maid was intent on giving him a parking ticket the day before. It would seem having his father's constant presence was more trying than he thought. He may have even gotten a friend out of the whole ordeal.

Dr Helen Bryce was normally someone he'd have considered having a relationship with, probably even been married within a year, divorced shortly after. Slow and relationships did not usually go hand in hand where he was concerned, which was why he'd thought it would be difficult with Chris. Instead it made the relationship that much better, it was more relaxed, gave them time to really get to know each other, made falling in love with him easy.

Things were calm, relaxing even, until a girl's scream filled the air, and spooked the horses. He wasn't sure how Lex did it, but somehow he managed to keep control of his horse, while grabbing the reigns of Chris's to keep him from being thrown. "Where did that come from?" Chris asked, looking around.

"This way!" And with that Lex was galloping off, and Chris had two choices. He could stay here and wait for Lex to come back for him, or he could follow, and help who ever was in trouble. Given his family history, it was really a no brainer, and he spurred his horse into a gallop. It would seem the possibility of someone being in trouble was enough to make his push through his fear, and before he knew it he was passing Lex, heading toward the bridge over the dam. The two arrived just in time to see Clark jump over the side of the bridge, and Chris jumped off the horse, running to the edge just in time to see Clark hit the ground with Chloe landing on top of him unconscious.

Suddenly he was being grabbed from behind, and being forced over the ledge of the dam, by what appeared to be a set of identical twins, who looked a lot like a kid in Clark's class. "I hope you brought your checkbook Luthor, you're going to need it if you don't want to see him fall to his death." Lex was kneeling on the ground next to an unconscious Lana, and Clark was standing on the bridge with an equally unconscious Chloe in his arms.

"Ian, let him go." Clark yelled, drawing the kids' attention away from him Lex. "He has noting to do with this." Chris looked down, as the two pushed him further back, and wished he hadn't as he felt fear rise up in him.

"I'll give you whatever you want, just don't let him fall." Lex promised, "I don't have my checkbook here, so we'll have to go back to my mansion, but I promise you I'll give you what ever you want." He could hear the desperation in Lex's voice, and if he was honest with himself he was pretty terrified. He could see Clark putting Chloe on the ground, but the twins must have seen it too, because they both pulled guns.

"I don't think so Clark, you go over the ledge after him, we'll kill all three of them." He said threatening Chloe, Lana, and Lex. Suddenly he felt a desperation that was not his own, and seemed to be magnified by two. Then he felt it, the shove that sent him over the side.

"Chris!" He could hear both Lex and Clark yell in unison, and through his fear while falling he felt an odd sensation go through him. Suddenly he felt his body make contact with the pavement, rolling a couple of times, and he was back up on the bridge with Lex, Clark, and the two Ian's looking at him in shock. Clark came out of the shock first, and used the distraction to disarm the other two, knocking them out in the process.

Seconds later Lex was crushing him against his chest, and soundly kissing him. "What happened?" He asked, lookin at a dazed Lex, then to a blushing Clark.

"I don't know, one second they're shoving you over the ledge, and the next there's a million little blue lights, and you're rolling onto the pavement." Lex was confused, but Chris was elated.

"I orbed?" He couldn't believe it, he'd thought there was something wrong with him, and that's why he'd never been able to orb. "I orbed!" He had to fight the urge to jump up and down, and instead grabbed Lex and kissed him hard. Since as long as he could remember he was jealous of his siblings, and how easy orbing came to them, how easy just controlling their powers came to them. It felt like they had this special connection with his dad, that he just didn't have, no matter how close the two had been.

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"What happened?" Martha practically jumped up from the kitchen table, Jonathan doing the same second after her, when Chris and Clark walked in. It was hard to miss the scratches across Chris's cheek, the split lip, or the cut above his eye. His clothes were dirty and torn, but still he had the biggest smile on his face.

"I orbed," And as though to explain just what that was, he burst into a million little blue lights, before rematerializing again.

"Yeah, he orbed, but only after being thrown off the dam." Clark scoffed, and instantly Martha was checking for damage, only finding minor cuts and bruises. "One minute we saw him go over the edge, the next he's reappearing in those blue lights you just saw, rolling across the pavement."

"It turns out fear is the trigger for that power, just like anger is the trigger for my telekinesis." Chris went on to explain, before Jonathan cut him off.

"I'm more concerned with why you were thrown from the dam!" She could see his anger, and knew he wanted to hurt this Ian boy when he found out he was the one who pushed him. "How's Lex doing?" She was surprised that it was Jonathan who asked, as he still sometimes had issues with the Luthor heir, no matter how hard he tried to separate the father from the son.

"He was pretty shook up, I think we all were." Clark had to fight back the blush, remembering the kiss he'd witnessed between the two. He was glad the two had been so caught up in each other, they hadn't noticed what just witnessing the kiss had done to him.

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Dealing with Chloe and Lana the next day had been much more difficult. Sure the two had apologized for not believing him when he'd tried to warn them about Ian, but that wasn't enough, he was tired of them treating him like a jealous exboyfriend, and told them as much. What he wasn't expecting was for Lana to turn it around and to throw it in his face, and trying to make it seem like they couldn't trust him because he wouldn't tell them his secret.

"Sorry to but in, but I wanted to make sure I got this straight..." They all turned to Chris who appeared right behind him, sometimes it was easy to he worked there too. Sure he was friendly with the customers, but he didn't waste time talking endlessly with people. If you had somewhere to be, you hoped Chris took your order. Not to mention, he made the best cup of coffee in the place.

"Wouldn't you need to be straight first?" Lana was obviously annoyed that he was cutting in on their conversation. He knew she felt threatened by Chris's relationship with Lex, like he would one day take the Talon from her, and give it to Chris. It would be a valid concern, if Chris had any desire to have it, but he didn't.

"Oh, that's mature, when all else fails, poke fun at my sexuality." He sounded almost bored as he said this, which made him wonder just how often people hade fun of him for his sexuality. "But I digress, what I really wanted to know is if knowing if Clark is really keeping a secret really worth destroying your friendship over." He asked with a raised eyebrow, and Clark was relieved to see that at least Chloe was considering what he'd said.

It made him really think about what he wanted out of his life. Did he want to live with someone who constantly blamed him for everything that went wrong in her life, who treated him like he was poorly just because he didn't want to tell her everything. Or did he want to be with the people who loved him for him, and who let him tell them things at his own pace. Who didn't feel like they could change him.

Out of the corner of his eye he saw Chris slip out the back with a couple of bags of garbage, so he decided to follow him. "You and Lex still meant what you said, about giving us a try?"

Chris just threw the bags in the dumpster before wiping off his hands. "That depends, are you interested?" Using his super speed he crossed the distance between them, and sealed their lips together.

"That had better be a sign that you're interested in both of us." Lex's voice broke them apart, and Clark was glad to see that he was within grabbing distance, so repeated the process with him.

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 _An. New poll, should Lex be a witch inherited by his mother, who bound his powers? If yes, what should his powers be?_


	10. Chapter 10

_I don't own Charmed or Smallville!_

Six weeks after deciding to give a relationship between the three of them a try Chris found himself living with not only Clark, but Lex as well. Lex had tracked down his younger half brother, and had brought him to Smallville to help take over their father's company, only to have Lucas turn on him and steal his inheritance. Lex was left penniless since Lionel had taken LexCorp from him by extorting some board members a few weeks prior.

However, Lucas wasn't content with just the inheritance, he wanted everything that he felt belonged to Lex, and had decided to pursue him very aggressively. It was this reason he was hiding out in Dakota's stable in the barn. Lex had given him the mustang after he'd realized Chris was the only person the horse was going to let near it. That's what made hiding in his stall so perfect, people were usually so busy watching the rearing horse, they never noticed him.

"What are you doing out here?" Except Clark that is, he figured being unable to be hurt by anything other than meteor rocks had it's perks. Still the bigger boy never came into the stall as he didn't want to hurt the horse.

"Lex's brother made any advances on you?!" Clark actually looked angry to find this out, something Chris found pretty amusing.

"You're not jealous are you?" He could hear the laughter in his own voice, as he stood and walked out of the stall and over to Clark. "You really shouldn't, you and Lex are the only ones I'd ever consider doing this with." And he grabbed the younger boy by the back of the neck, yanking his head down and crashing their lips together.

"If jealousy will get me a kiss like that, then I'm extremely jealous." Came Lex's taunting voice. Chris just grinned as he stepped away from a dazed Clark and kissed the older man. "Now what exactly am I jealous of?" He asked when the kiss was broken.

"Apparently your brother was hitting on Chris." It was like a dark shadow crossed Lex's face at Clark's words, and Chris knew the man would love nothing more than to beat the little shit who had replaced him, and not because he was mourning the loss of his wealth, but because he could no longer deny how little he meant to his father.

"And I took care of it," His tone was placating, and he had a slight grin on his face, "he propositioned, I threatened violence if he came near me, he tried again, I followed through." The two looked at him in shock, before Lex started chuckling.

"I hope you got him good." They all turned to see Jonathan entering the barn, a slight grin on his face.

"Broke his nose," He'd grinned a little to himself, remembering Lucas hitting ground. For a moment he'd wished Wyatt had been there to see it. He'd been having thoughts like that more and more lately, wishing his family could be involved with his life here, to meet Lex, Clark, and the Kents. "Besides, he only wanted me because I'm with Lex, probably figured that since he was going to inherit, that he should have everything he thought belonged to Lex. He just didn't take the fact that I was an actual human being into account."

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"What's this?" Lionel asked as Chris slapped the folder down on the desk in front of him. It had taken some time, but he was sure he's finally found enough evidence to prove the man had broken the law when he'd take Lex's company.

"Proof of five counts of extortion, a possible 75 years in prison." He'd gotten good at computer hacking when he was twelve, and often would hack the San Fransisco PD to remove his family's names from reports. It had gotten to the point where he could be in and out in a matter of seconds with no one the wiser.

"How did you get this?" He could see the fury practically rolling off the man, and tried to hide his grin.

"The how's not important, what I'm going to do with it is another story." He'd Hacked the old sheriff's computer, then when he knew who to look for he hacked the computers of the different victims. It was one of the easier hacks he'd ever accomplished.

"Now, your going to sign Lex's company back over to him, along with the joint ownership to the Talon, or copies if those documents are going to find their way into the hands of the FBI." The fact that Lucas owned the partnership was not lost on him, he figured that was Lionel's problem.

"Extortion is not a federal offense." Lionel was smug, but Chris had done his homework.

"No, but wire fraud is." He tutted him, "You really shouldn't have used your personal account for those payoffs, what with it being overseas and all."

He wasn't surprised when the man called for a couple of thugs and had him searched, he was just thankful he didn't have Lucas do it, the other boy would have probably enjoyed it too much.

"And what's to say I won't just have you and these papers gotten rid of?" The man asked when to tape recorder was found.

"Oh my threat from before still stands, I've even been nice enough to include a copy of the tape." Confusion took up residence on the man's face. "All Lex destroyed was taped class lecture. I now have multiple copies of that tape, many in the safe hands of people I trust," Lex had beamed with pride and had gladly accepted the copy of the tape when Chris had finally come clean about it. Clark also had a copy of it, and had asked Pete to keep one. He'd mentioned giving one to Chloe and Lana, but Chris trust Chloe to look past the story, and Lana hadn't been his biggest fan after Clark got together with him and Lex, and no longer rushed to her when she called.

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"Well, it's not LuthorCorp, but I think it has the potential to be something greater." Clark and Lex both looked up from the books they were reading when Chris slapped a folder down in Lex's lap.

"What's this?" He asked, even as he opened the envelope, and started reading the documents over, "How did you...?" He trailed off, looking up at a smirking Chris in shock.

"Your father's not the only one well versed in extortion." He grinned as Lex handed the documents over to Clark to read, though it was clear to both of them he had no idea what they meant. "And while his computer was too hard to hack, there were others involved who's weren't."

"You hacked someone's computer?" Clark wasn't sure if he should be horrified or impressed, after all, Chris was only 17.

"More than one." Chris said as though it was nothing, like he was just making conversation. "My family showed up at a lot of crime scenes, chasing demons and all, it got a lot of people asking questions. I started hacking the police department's computers when I was twelve to erase any trace of us."

"You were hacking into computers at 12 years old?" He couldn't keep himself from sounding as shocked as he was.

"I didn't really have a lot of friends growing up," Chris shrugged as if it were nothing, but if anyone could understand how it felt to be friendless it was him and Lex. His parents had always been afraid of him hurting the other kids, and Lex had been ridiculed for being bald.

"You went to my father to get my company back?" Lex looked almost afraid to believe it.

"Well, yeah, your company and the Talon, but the second one was more because I want to be able to kick Lucas out when he comes in there." It was clear just how deep Chris's dislike for the other boy was, and Clark couldn't help but agree.

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Lex looked at his father as the man seemed to stare off into space, and decided it was time to talk, "I hope you realize that things aren't going to go back to the way they were, just because you made me your heir again. I'm done destroying who I am just so I can have your approval."

He'd been able to convince Lucas to work with him, and the two had lured his father to LuthorCorp in Metropolis. When he'd gotten there he found Lex tied to a chair, with Lucas pointing a gun at him. Lucas eventually revealed that he intended for Lionel to be the one to shoot Lex, handing him the gun, while pulling a second one. What Lionel hadn't known was that the guns were filled with blanks. He'd shown his true opinion of who he wanted as his son when he'd shot Lucas after he'd dropped his gun.

His father had offered him his inheritance back, if he agreed to keep quiet about Lucas. He'd also made the man agree that Lucas would be under his protection. He was already holding a place for him in the best institution in the world, but knew there was no cure for being a sociopath.

"Like it or not Lex, you are still my son." This seemed to be his father's way of making things better, "You have a duty to this family, to it's legacy." He knew that was his father's main issue with when he hooked up with men, if he were to fall in love with one the Luthor line would end.

"Yeah, well, I think we both know how I feel about the prospect of having children. Besides, it's not like I've had a good example of how to be a father." They both knew that wasn't his reason for not wanting kids, the real reason being, that he didn't think he could live with himself if he did what he did to Julian to his own child. If he had been worried about being a good father he would just try to emulate Jonathan Kent.

He still didn't remember much from that night, all he really remembered was staring down at the body of his baby brother with the pillow that had been used to smother him at his feet. His father had come into the room to find him like that, and had hit him so hard, when he realized what he'd done, it sent him crashing to the ground.

What he couldn't understand was what made him snap, what had made him want to kill his baby brother who he adored? What brought on the act that made his father truly hate him? Sure his dad hadn't been a great dad, but he had sporadic moments when he showed he cared, but those had all stopped after Julian.

His hopes of having a family of his own had all but died with his little brother...until he met Chris and the Kents. For the first time in his life he could imagine a future of quiet nights at home after working hard all day, him, Clark, and Chris cuddled up on the couch. Or the three of them laughing in the kitchen as Chris tried to make dinner and he and Clark tried to help, but turned out to be more of a hindrance. But these visions in his head never included children. He didn't want to risk it.

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 _An. It was suggested by ReflectionsOfReality that Lex be descended from wizards from Charmed, so if he has magic he will be a wizard not a witch._


	11. Chapter 11

_I don't own Charmed or Smallville!_

"Hey, I brought you some coffee. Chloe is with Clark right now." Jonathan took the offered cup, and watched as Lex walked around the hospital bed to place a kiss on Chris's sweaty brow, careful not to disturb any of the wires and tubes hooked up to the surrounding machines. He took a seat in the chair right next to the bed. "How are they doing?"

"The doctors say there's nothing more they can do. Dr Bryce was in a little bit ago, Chris has less than 24 hours, and Martha won't make it through the night." He hadn't wanted to let the woman treat Clark, but she had threatened to call the authorities on him. Instead he made her promise to do the labs herself, and after doing so she had promised to keep Clark's secret.

He felt as if his whole world were crumbling around him. He'd been terrified to find his wife collapsed in the kitchen, the two of them barely breathing. He, Chris, and Clark had rushed her to the hospital, and been informed that not only was Martha in danger of dying, but she could also lose their unborn child.

Chris and Clark had gone back to hide the spaceship when the DCA were called in, and Pete Was going to meet them there to help them stash it in his shed. Whatever it was causing the illness was found in the storm cellar, and he knew he'd signed his boys' death certificates by sending them back there. He was going to lose his entire family in one fell swoop, and there was nothing he could do to stop it.

It was then his eyes fell on the pendant around Chris's neck, and he surged forward, barely stopping himself from ripping it off. "If you can hear me then get your ass here and save him." Lex looked at him as if he'd gone mad, but he didn't care. He also didn't miss the tears the young man, barely more than a boy himself, tried so desperately to fight back. It made him realize that he wasn't losing his entire family.

His biggest fear had been that one day Clark would find out his biological father was a better man than him, and regret having been raised by him. Then Chris came along and he had two biggest fears, the first being the ghost of Clark's dad, and the second being Chris's dad; that he'd show up and take Chris from him...from them. He would gladly face a million other fathers if it meant Chris would live. Just having one member of his family walk away from this might make losing the other three bearable eventually.

"Damnit, he already thinks you've stopped loving him, now get your ass over here and prove him wrong!" He knew he was on the verge of breaking down, bit he didn't care. "What kind of father doesn't come running when his child is knocking on death's door? I swear to God if you don't come here and heal him now I will do everything in my power to replace you, I'll be the father he needs, he'll never think of you again!" He knew there was no way he could replace Chris's father, but he was desperate and willing to say anything.

He waited a couple of minutes before wiping the tears from his eyes, and clasping the pendant back around Chris's neck. "Looks like we're on our own," he turned desperate eyes to Lex. "Martha was saying she thought it could have been the ship that healed her so she could get pregnant, I say we bring it and Clark here and see if it can give us another miracle."

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"It won't be long now will it?" Chris turned to ask Clarence, the Angel of Death who'd come for him and Martha. Normally the Angels didn't come till Right before they had died, but Clarence had come early to try and give them closure with their early passing. It was hard to find closure though when he saw how it was destroying Jonathan.

Their spirits were outside their bodies, able to see and hear what was going on around them. They could see their bodies hooked up to all the different machines, and watched as Jonathan demanded that his dad come save him.

"He didn't come." He fought back the tears, wondering what was so wrong with him that his dad wouldn't come save him. Did his family decid life without him was better, and didn't want to take the chances of him coming back? Was it because they realized that he would never live up to Future Chris?

Maybe him being a male made him unworthy of the Halliwell Family Magic and Liniage, just look at how Grams doted on his sister and female cousins; he and Wyatt used to joke about it all the time.

Maybe they he didn't come because he wasn't as good as Wyatt, and his dad decided to invest more time in the Twice Blessed Child, and he could do that better with Chris gone. It wasn't like Wyatt ever almost killed him, or almost gotten Melinda kidnapped. Who'd also been able to control his powers from the womb, unlike him who hadn't figured out how to really control his until coming to Smallville. Wyatt who was the perfect, _straight_ , son any dad born in the 1920's could be proud of. Who cast a very large shadow a younger brother could never really find his way out from under it.

Then he felt the arms wrapping around him, and he was being pulled into Martha's warm, loving embrace. "Shhh sweetheart, maybe he was just busy helping some one else. I'm sure he would have come if he could, I know he would have, because Jonathan and I would walk through Hell and back if it meant keeping you safe. You can't raise such a wonderful boy without loving him with your entire being." He just clung to her as he sobbed, wishing what she said was true, but determined to stop hoping that his family still loved him after all these years.

"I love you mom." He whispered, knowing she would hear it. He didn't want to die without her knowing it. He just wished he'd had a chance to tell Jonathan.

"I love you too, so, so, much." He could hear her crying, as she just held him tighter, but for some reason he knew they were good tears.

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"No!" Piper opened her eyes just in time to see her enraged husband flip the table in the center of their entry way. They had been attacked by a couple of upper level demons, and the last thing she remembered was being thrown across the room. She did a quick glance around the room to see Paige healing the last of theirwounded family members, while wiping the tears from her face.

She saw Leo was now curled up in a ball in the corner of the room, with his head in his hands, and went to him, "I felt him Piper...he was right there...I was going to orb to him after I healed you...he was right there...I could sense him...he was right there..."

She didn't have any idea who or what he was talking about, and looked around the room to see if anyone else did. Her children looked as lost as she was, and maybe a little scared. Phoebe was sobbing as Paige held her, no doubt picking up on Leo's pain, and she was glad to her nieces and nephew were home with their fathers, she'd hate to scare them by having them see their mothers and uncle like this.

"Who was there sweetheart?" She asked gently, having no idea the answer was going to rip her own heart to shreds.

"It was Chris sweetie, we both sensed him," Paige had tears rolling down her face, and Piper turned to look at her in desperation.

"Well go get him, where is he?" She looked between her husband and sister in desperation. "Why are you still here, go get him."

"We can's sweetie, he's gone." Paige said as gently as she could, but still the words cut right through her.

"What do you mean gone, go get him and bring him back!" They couldn't mean gone, gone. "What are you both still doing here? Go and get him, bring my baby home!" She couldn't understand why her husband and sister were just sitting there, why weren't they going and getting Chris? What could they possibly be waiting for? Their baby had been gone almost three and a half years now. He would be turning 18 later this year, and they'd missed out on so much already, she didn't want to miss out on any more. She wanted him back home with her, where she would know that he was safe, where she could take care of him. She wanted to be able to apologize for everything they may have done to make him think running was his only option, for not seeing how he was suffering. She wanted to apologize for focusing on Wyatt to make sure the future didn't repeat itself, to make sure that he stayed good and didn't make sure her Chris didn't have to live through what the Future Chris lived through.

They had looked for him every day that first year, scrying, spells, nothing worked to locate him. They'd also had filled out missing person reports, and had Henry watching all databases on missing persons, but nothing ever came up. They'd even asked the elders to look for him, but they too came up with nothing. It wasn't until one of the Angels of Destiny appeared that they finally got some hint of him, but it was only to be told that he had a much bigger destiny to fulfill, one that wouldn't have happened if he hadn't left. A destiny that had he not seen to would have seen the earth thrown into war and eventually destroyed.

"We could sense he was dying," Paige's voice cracked as she spoke, and Piper felt like her world was shattering.

"No, No, he cant be," She her heart felt like it was crumpling into a million pieces, "Please, tell me he's not" Leo wrapped his arms around her and held her tight as the two of them cried together. Her baby was gone, and there was nothing she could do about it.

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"It's time to go." Clarence said as the portal to the afterlife opened. Chris could feel the fear rising up in him, and then he felt a hand close around his, and turned to give Martha a slight smile. "I swear it won't hurt at all, and your grandmother, grams, and Aunt Prue will be waiting for you on the other side.

The two of them squeezed each other's hands, and took a step toward the portal together when suddenly a bright light engulfed them, and suddenly they knew no more.

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Jonathan had just sent Lex and Clark to the cafeteria to get something to eat when he noticed Chris's hand twitch, "Chris, can you hear me, open the your eyes for me son." Chris and Martha had started being able to breath on their own, so the doctors had taken them off the oxygen.

He didn't know whether to laugh or cry when green eyes opened, "Dad?" It was soft, and there was obvious strain with how weak Chris was.

"Sorry son, it's just me." He pushed the dark hair away from his face.

"I know." Chris was looking directly at him, and suddenly the decision of whether to laugh or cry was made for him as tears of happiness ran down his cheeks.

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Piper lit the last candle on the floor before going over to the book to chant the spell,

 _Here these words,  
_ _Hear my cry,  
_ _Spirit from the other side,  
_ _Come to me,  
_ _I summon thee,  
_ _Cross now the great divide._

For the next couple of days she'd walked around in an almost trance like state, her mind not wanting to deal with the fact that her son was gone, but now she needed answers. She waited as the white orbs materialized, and suddenly her gram's spirit was standing before her. "Piper," She could hear the sympathy in Gram's voice, and was glad she was the one to come, she'd known what it was like to lose a child.

"Is he there with you?" She asked.

"Piper, you know I can't tell you anything, it's not allowed." Grams genuinely sounded sorry for this, but that wasn't enough for her. She had questions and she wanted them answered.

"Was he happy...before he died,...was he happy?" They both turned to see Leo standing in the doorway looking lost.

"I wish I could answer that for you," Grams started to say, before a second set of orbs filled the space, and her mother's spirit was standing next to Grams.

"Honestly mother, it's not going to change anything if they were to know if her son was happy before he died." She wanted to smile her thanks, but her grief was too great to even have the energy to try. "Yes sweetheart, he was happy the last year and a half, but I'm not going to lie to you, the two years before that were difficult, but the last year and a half has been much better for him. A nice couple who had a son around his age took him in, but he never stopped loving the two of you. He's never stopped missing his family." She had thought it would make her feel better, knowing he was happy, but it just made her miss him more.

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 _An. ReflectionsOfReality also pointed out the different insecurities about his family Chris showed in this chapter._


	12. Chapter 12

_I don't own Charmed or Smallville!_

 _Chris woke up to the feeling of fingers tips running over his bare back, and he looked up from the chest he was lying on to see Lex watching him. He could feel the weight of Clarks sleeping form half way on top of him, pressing him further into Lex's body. "How are you feeling?" Lex asked and he felt Clark stir behind him. The three of them had taken their relationship to the next level the night before, and while he was sore, he found he didn't mind it so much._

 _"Like I had an amazing night last light." He grinned, kissing Lex, and smiling when strong arms closed around his waist, pulling him into an equally strong body, as lips started caressing his neck. "How much time do we have?" Lex was going to have to get ready for_ his wedding soon.

 _Helen Bryce had used Clark's secret to blackmail Lex into marrying her, and told him that after the wedding he was never to see the two of them again. It had taken both him a Clark a while to convince Lex to sleep with them the night before, as Lex thought they weren't ready, and only wanted to sleep with him because they were about to lose him. When in reality they had been together almost six and a half months, and were ready to take that step._

 _"We have enough." Lex said as he shifted Chris onto his back while pulling Clark in for a passionate kiss._

Chris woke with a cry, his hand going straight to his belly and unborn child. So much had gone wrong since he'd almost died, and the little miracle he carried seemed to be the only thing going right. It had devastated him when Lex's plane had crashed on the way to his honeymoon, and Clark had taken off. He had found out right before the wedding that Clark's biological father had been trying to force him to leave, so he'd stolen a kryptonite key and was going to use it to destroy the spaceship. Chris had left to try and keep the Kents at the wedding and out of harms way, but had missed them, and they'd been near the farm when the ship had exploded. It resulted in an accident that resulted in Martha losing the baby she was carrying. Apparently Jonathan had said some things to Clark in his grief, and Clark had run away. Then they got word of Lex's plane crashing, and it seemed like his world started spiraling out of control, and all he could do was pray for it to stop.

He'd thought it was grief from losing Lex that started making his sick, but then Jonathan had made a joke about him being pregnant, and Martha had pointed out that he'd been in the cellar with her when the ship had given her the chance to get pregnant, why not him as well. That had sent Jonathan a couple of towns over to purchase a pregnancy test that later came back positive.

He'd ended up calling Lex's best and only friend, remembering that he'd promised his boyfriend to do as such if he ever found himself in trouble. Lex's friend had been more than willing to pull out all the stops to make sure he and the baby were taken care of and had a doctor that wouldn't turn them into a science project. He'd set up to have all the doctors appointments take place at his manor, so that there would be no way the news could leak, or get back to Lionel Luthor. He knew that the man would stop at nothing to take the child from him after it was born if it was proven that Lex was the father, and since the two had taken turns that night, there was a possibility it was either him or Clark. Granted, if the ship was really responsible for this, then it was possible it was both.

"You better not be heading out the barn without eating something first." Martha was the reason he and the baby were so healthy, she made sure he ate and rested, he thought that having lost hers she was trying extra hard to make sure he didn't go through the same.

"I think toast is all I can handle right now." The morning sickness the first two months of his pregnancy had been horrible, even with medication he had trouble keeping anything down, and apparently she had anticipated him as she handed him a couple of pieces of dry toast and a glass of water. "Have you heard anything from Clark?" They had been getting phone calls throughout the past two months from someone who wouldn't talk, and would eventually just hang up. "I know it may not seem like it, but as long as he keeps calling there's still hope...trust me."

"When did you stop calling your parents?" Martha asked him, but he could see she was looking for reassurance about Clark, not reassurance that he was staying.

"It was after we almost died." He looked at her, wanting her to see the truth. "I realized that I was only hurting myself by holding back from the family that proved time and time again that they wanted me." She smiled at him, one he gladly returned.

"We want you more than anything, and love having you here." She cupped both sides of his face, and kissed his forehead.

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"Well aren't you a sight for sore eyes?" Lex turned at the sound of the familiar voice, and he stared in shock at his only friend, "I can't find any fault with your taste in men."

"What...how did you find me?" Two months on this island without any sign of human life, and suddenly Bruce Wayne is landing a small jet not ten feet from him.

"Chris has been researching the crash for the last two months. He's the one who found this cluster of island, I've been the one searching them." Bruce grinned as he pulled him into a brotherly hug. "Now, are you ready to get off this godforsaken island or not? Personally, I can't wait to see the look on your future ex-wife's face when she sees you're still alive."

"What makes you think it was her who did this?" Lex asked as he and Bruce buckled themselves into the jet.

"Well, Chris mentioned the fact that if your father was behind it, Helen would have never made it back home." Bruce turned to him with a grin, "Smart kid that one, good looking too. Lucky for you I'm strictly into women, or else you'd have some competition.

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"You're sure he's here Chloe?" Chris asked as he followed Chloe into the apartment Clark had been renting with money he stole from ATM's all over Metropolis. "It doesn't look like he's home." Chloe looked around nervously, and he wondered what it was exactly she was afraid of, it was only Clark. Even wearing red kryptonite Clark would never hurt him...he had to be sure of it if he was putting himself and his baby in danger by confronting him.

"Looks can be deceiving." They both turned to see Clark standing in the doorway, and Chris knew he made a mistake when suddenly Clark's hands were around each his and Chloe's necks, and they were no longer on the ground. "You shouldn't have brought him Chloe, you should have left him at home where he was safe and couldn't be hurt." Chris tried to say something, but Clark's hold on his neck was so tight he wasn't able to.

He suddenly felt himself being thrown across the room, hitting the wall and landing hard on the ground. "You promised you wouldn't tell anyone I was here." He saw Chloe on the other side of the room, trying to get up after being thrown across the room.

"Clark please, I'm sorry, I though he could help." Chloe was on her feet now trying to put as much distance between her and Clark.

Chris forced himself to stand and held out his hand palm up, "Ring!" The meteor rock class ring disappeared from Clark's finger in a bunch of little blue lights, and reappeared in his palm.

"Chris? Chloe?" Clark looked at the two of them in shock, noticing the stunned look on Chloe's face. He didn't have time to dwell on it though, because suddenly chris was swaying, and he had to use his super speed to keep him from hitting the hard floor.

"Chris, come on, open your eyes for me." He gently slapped Chris's face trying to wake him up, and breathed a sigh of relief when the green eyes opened.

"I need...to go...to Wayne...Manor." He gasped out and Clark could see how much pain he was in, and the way he was holding his stomach made him worry there was internal damage.

He turned when he heard Chloe gasp, "I promise to explaine everything..."

"But you need to get him help first, it's ok, go. Do what you have to do." Chloe was so understanding, it made him hope that she would understand when they finally did have that conversation.

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"Hey," Chris tried to smile when Clark walked into his room, and carefully patted the bed next to him, but Clark refused to even come near him. "Don't make me get up, I'll do it." He started pushing the blankets off, and suddenly Clark was there gently tucking the blankets back around him. He wasn't sure if he was surprised or not when Clark's larger hand came to rest over his stomach. "My doctor says I'm, we're, going to be just fine. I'll be sore for a little while, and I'm not allowed out of bed till I'm completely healed, but we're going to be just fine."

"When I think of what could have happened," Clark's voice broke as he stared down at the hand rubbing his stomach, "I could have killed you and our baby...just like I killed..."

"Hey, no one blames you for that, or this." He cupped the side of Clark's face and forced him to look at him. "You couldn't have known the ship would explode, or that it would cause your mom to lose the baby. And it was the Kryptonite that caused all this, not you."

"I put that ring on..." Clark broke down at that point, and Chris pulled him close and held him as he cried, comforting him till he settled down. "I'm so sorry, I swear Chris, I never meant to hurt you."

"I know you didn't, and the important thing is that I'm, that we're both okay." Clark kissed him gently before helping him lay back down.

"I see you started without me." Both heads snapped toward at the sound of the familiar voice, and Clark was on his feet in an instant, "You stay put, I'll come to you." Lex wagged his finger at Chris when he was about to attempt to get up. Chris cot to watch as the other two got to enjoy a passionate kiss, and frothy cheated when lex gave him a quick, gentle kiss on the lips.

Lex had quite a few scrapes and bruises, and his lips were dry and cracked, but Chris still thought he was one of the handsomest men he'd ever seen. Especially dressed as he was in soft looking sleep pants, and an equally soft looking t shirt. He knew they wer as soft as they looked, because someone had dressed him in something similar.

"They said you died." Clark couldn't take his eyes off Lex, while Lex kept glancing between the two of them. There were moments though when Lex would glance at his stomach, and fear would creep into his eyes, only to be replaced with a cold, hardened look.

"We have Chris to thank for my being here, he has apparently spent the last two months combing over maps and spreadsheets he got from hacking into different airlines computers trying to track me down. Once he thought he may have pinpointed my location he sent Bruce to come get me." Chris watched from his spot on the bed, and noticed how Lex was warm and open with Clark, but closed off and cold when he seemed to be addressing him. He wasn't sure what it was that was causing the change, but hoped it had to do with the plane crash, and not something he did.

"You're tired, we should leave you to rest." Lex was already itching to get out of the room, and Chris couldn't help but stare in shock.

"But you both just got here?" He argued, but lex just pressed a kiss to his forehead.

"You'll rest better if we're not here to disturb you." And with that he hurried Clark out of the room, leaving behind a very confused and hurt Chris.


	13. Chapter 13

_I don't own Charmed or Smallville!_

Lex found it difficult to sleep that night so eventually got up, leaving a very naked Clark asleep in his bed, and quietly made his way to Chris's bedroom. He hadn't been able to get the boy's hurt and confused look out of his mind, and the guilt of it was gnawing away at him.

"Are you just getting in? What could you possibly be doing till 4:30 in the morning? Come to think of it, I don't remember seeing you leave, now that I think about it." He asked as he passed Bruce in the hall.

"What can I say? I had a hot date." Bruce shrugged it off, but Lex had to sit through too many of his friends lectures about how people should be treated to believe he'd really been out earning his status as a playboy. Instead he decided to let it go, for a little while, out of thanks for everything the man had done for Chris when Lex couldn't. "What are you doing up?"

"I couldn't sleep, so I decided to go check in on Chris." He answered honestly.

"Yeah, what was up with that?" Bruce asked, crossing his arms and planting himself a little more firmly in the center of the hall to block Lex's path, "That kid worked his ass off to find the two of you, risked himself and the baby confronting a drugged up Clark, and don't think I wouldn't love to know how one 16 year old kid could so so much damage to another person, and how do the two of you show your appreciation? You show up at his room for a few minutes, before running off to screw eachother for a few hours. Thank God Jonathan and Martha Kent showed up, or else he would have only had Alfred and I for company."

Lex hadn't thought he could feel worse than he had when he'd gotten out of bed, leave it to Bruce to prove him wrong. "I already feel horrible about that, you don't need to make me feel worse."

"Look Lex, I don't know what's going through your head, but if you hurt him, so help me God..." He didn't need to let the man finish his sentence to know where this was going.

"I know Bruce, and believe me, the last thing I want to do is hurt him." It was killing him to think of Chris lying in another room, in pain, and that he'd added to his misery by being unable to control his fears about the baby.

"Just see to it you don't." Bruce stepped around him and headded off down the hall, allowing Lex to continue on to Chris's room.

"You should be asleep." He said as he entered the room, and Chris turned to look at him, pained eyes wide open. There hadn't been much of Nything they could give him to relieve pain, as it could hurt the baby, so Chris had chosen to go without to keep from hurting the baby.

"Yeah, well, I'd sleep if I could get comfortable." He winced as he shifted a bit, and Lex surged forward to help him sit up. When they settled back down Chris was leaning half on him, and Lex was leaning up against the headboard. "Did I do something wrong?"

"No, not at all, why would you even think that?" He had to fight the urge to tighten his hold on the injured man. As it was be was sitting almost as stiff as he could get, afraid he'd hurt him even worse.

"You're acting as though you'd rather be anywhere but here," He burried his face in Chris's hair, gently wrapping his arms around the younger boy so that he was holding gently.

"There is nowhere I'd rather be, I just needed to get out of my head. What I really want is to lock you and Clark away in padded rooms, I don't think I can handle seeing you in a hospital bed anymore." He knew he was only being partially honest, and knew he should tell Chris about what happened to Julian, but he didn't think he could handle having Chris looking at him with disgust.

"I'm not in a hospital bed though." Chris turned to look at him with a slight smile on his face, Lex finally did what he should have done earlier, and closed the distance between them, sealing their lips together in a heated kiss.

"I didn't hurt you did I?" He asked, pulling back, his hand cupping Chris's face and his thumb over the kiss swollen lips. He was surprised when he realized the hand of the arm wrapped around Chris was splayed protectively over his stomach and their unborn child.

"No, that most definitely didn't hurt." Chris grinned up at him, before letting out a huge yawn. After that the two quieted down, Lex gently maneuvering them so that they were laying down. It was suddenly harder to keep his eyes open, and when he heard Chris's breathing even out he decided to give up the fight. The last thing he was aware of was a warm body pressing up against his back, and Clark's bigger hand coming to rest on top of his on Chris's stomach.

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"So, what do you think, am I "Wall of Weird" material?" Chris asked Chloe a few days later when she came to see him. Clark had told her everything after she'd seen the ring orbed off his finger and into Chris's hand, and so far she'd taken things pretty well.

"Clark said you gave him permission to tell me about your powers, I guess I just wanted to know why? I mean I haven't really been all that friendly, or welcoming toward you, so what makes you so sure you can trust me?" Just the fact that she was looking so nervous and apologetic told him he could trust her.

Instead of telling her this though, he decided to go with the truth, "I wasn't at first." He didn't miss the shocked and hurt look on her face but continued. "This isn't just my secret, it's my entire family's secret dating back for generations. It's my mom and dad's, my brother and sister's, my aunts and cousins', and that's not something I can take lightly."

He saw understanding start to blossom on her face, but continued anyways, "Can you imagine what people would do if they found out people like us exist? Trust me, it would be the which trials all over again."

"But why trust me?" Chloe asked again.

"Because Clark trusts you." He said it as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, which to him it was.

"Another thing I don't get is that, knowing you were pregnant, you still risked your life going up against him." This time she glared at him, letting him know that she was not impressed.

"I honestly didn't think he would hurt me. I mean, this wasn't the first time I've been thrown into a wall, it was the hardest I've ever been thrown though." He stopped and thought for a second, "Makes me want to call up my brother Wyatt and apologize for the time I actually put holiness through a wall." He winced just remembering it, "Lucky for him our dad was there to heal him."

"You threw your brother through a wall...brings sibling rivalry to a whole no level." Chloe said the last part to herself.

"No, him orbing me all over creation as a baby brought sibling rivalry to a whole new level." When he saw her confused look he clarified, "That thing I did with the ring, that's orbing." Then to drive the matter home he held his hand out, "Rose," Her eyes grew wider when a rose disappeared from the flower arrangement on the dresser, and reappeared in his hand in a swirl of blue orbs, and he handed it to Chloe.

"That was so awesome, what else can you do?" He waved his hand and the dresser slid across the floor, and then repeated the action to move it back.

"That thing you saw with the orbs, eventually I should be able to do that with my whole body, move from one place to the other. I've been practicing it, but haven't gotten the hang of it. My brother and sister could do it since they were babies, I guess I'm just a late bloomer." He said with a self-depreciating smile.

"Maybe you just got it later because your other power was so strong, I mean, come on, that dresser has to weigh a few hundred pounds, and you moved it with just a flick of your wrist. Not to mention the precision there, I bet you put it right back where it was. I bet that kind of precision takes an aweful lot of control." Her smile was so big he thought it might split her face in two. "And that, my friend, is why you are _sooo not_ "Wall of Weird" material, you are so much cooler than that."

"Wow, that's high praise coming from Chloe." Clark grinned as he entered the room and gingerly sat next to him on the bed. Glancing at Chloe sitting crossed legged on the other side of Chris on the bed, he saw her still holding the rose, "You already looking to replace us?"

"I might be considering it, if I can get her to agree to help raise your baby." He grinned, and his voice had a joking tone to it.

"She's smart enough to know not to even consider it, I don't take kindly to people taking the things I love from me." Lex said as he sauntered into the room, fresh bruises and scrapes visible on his face.

"What happened?" Chris asked as he threw the covers off, ready to attempt to get up. Lex was quicker though and crossed the room with quick strides, gently pushing him back down and covering him back up.

"Your doctor told you that you are not to be out of that bed, except to use the bathroom, now lie back down." He and Lex had a glaring contest, but he won and Lex sighed.

"I was tying up some lose ends. I'm not about to think about bringing a child into this world with one of it's father's being threatened." Lex had a cold look on his face, and Chris couldn't stop himself from asking.

"Did you kill her?" He was almost afraid of the answer, afraid it would mean they would lose Lex. The thought of her walking free worried him, but the thought of Lex locked up in prison terrified him. He love both him and Clark with all his heart, and the thought of not being able to see them every day was too daunting.

"When the plane took off, my intent was to just get Helen on tape saying she had tried to kill me. I hadn't expected her to pull a gun, or for us to struggle over it and the piolot to get shot." Lex looked sincere, but Chris had his doubts and hated himself for them. He knew there wasn't much Lex would kill for, but keeping him and Clark safe definitely fell at the top of the list, and Helen made the mistake of threatening one of them.

"By the time I landed the plane she had taken a parachute and jumped." He acted his part well, and Chris decided to let it go. The important thing was that the woman would never threaten them again. Besides, if she took the parachute and jumped Lex had at least given her a chance to survive.


	14. Chapter 14

_I don't own Charmed or Smallville!_

It was a month before Chris was allowed out of bed, and just in time for his senior year of high school. He still had to return to Wayne Manor once a month for a check up on how he and the baby we're doing. Clark had always made sure to join him, while Lex always seemed to have something else going on.

His doctor had asked if they wanted to know the sex of the baby, which they were dying to know, but didn't want to be told without Lex being there. For this reason he'd made sure to write the date of the appointment for his five month check up on the calendar, but still, no Lex. This time there was also no Clark, which worried him.

"Is that his..." Chloe trailed off while pointing at the image on the screen.

"No, that's the baby's arm." Dr. Chang informed the younger girl. Chloe had adopted a new life's mission to prove herself to be godmother material, and had practically begged him to let her go with for this appointment. The two of them had actually started trying it be friends, and found they had a lot in common.

"Has there been any news on whether or not the other pregnancies were true?" There had been claims of a few other men as far as Metropolis ending up pregnant, and Chloe's theory was that when the ship exploded it emitted a sort of radiation, that affected others like it affected Chris. He didn't care what happened since it made it possible for two of them to claim the baby as being biologically theirs. Not to mention it made it so he wouldn't have to drop out of school to hide his pregnancy.

"I can't tell you much, but I can say that there has been confirmation on that, I have even taken on two more high profile cases." Dr. Chang answered as she handed him towel to wipe his stomach off with. "I can tell you that you and your baby are both healthy."

He smiled at hearing that, but still saked the question that had been weighing on all three of the Kent's minds, "So then there's nothing wrong with me keeping me from gaining more weight?" Martha and Clark, even Jonathan, had expressed concerns about the fact that he wasn't gaining much weight, and was barely showing.

"You're doing just fine, you maintain a very active lifestyle, and are most likely carrying more towards your back, which would explain the smaller baby bump." She smiled gently at him and Chloe, helping to calm his nerves.

"You're not going to leave me again are you?" Chloe asked as he reached for her hand to orb them back to Smallville after the doctor left. He'd finally gotten the hang of orbing to other places, and then orbing people with him.

"I did that once." He laughed as he took her hand to orb them back to the Kent farm. Only it wasn't the living room at the farm they appeared in, but rather, the entry way at his parents' house.

"I think you're a little off." Chloe said with a laugh as she looked around the room.

"I think the baby just hijacked my orb." He said, staring at his stomach in shock. Both heads snapped to look at the door when they heard it open.

"There are more bags in the trunk, " His mom's back was to them as she was yelling at someone in the driveway, her arms full of bags of groceries.

"Quick, up stairs." He whispered, pushing Chloe toward the stairs, and the two darted up the stairs, just seconds before his mom entered the house. He stood just out of sight as his dad and Wyatt followed his mom in just a couple of minutes later, each one carrying an arm full of groceries.

"Melinda, we're home!" His mom called from down stairs.

"I'll be down in a minute mom!" A young girl's voice called from a room down the hall behind them.

"The attic, hurry." He was a couple of steps ahead of her, and held the door open for her, closing it quietly behind.

"Can't you just orb us out?" Chloe asked when he turned around to look at her, he felt bad when he saw the panicked look in his eyes.

"I've tried that, the baby grounded me as well." He told her before looking down at his stomach, "You are so grounded when you come out of there." He grinned at Chloe when he heard her laugh.

"Like your going to remember that four months from now." She moved across the room to sit on one of the couches there. "Why bring us here though?"

"I was talking with Clark this morning about how much I still my family, how much I wish my mom could be there to help me with this." He saw her looking at him in confusion, "Don't get me wrong, Martha's great and all, but she's not the woman who raised me. She's never had to worry about your baby orbing out of it's crib to God knows where. And while she's the authority on your child being able to bench press a tractor..."

"Anything magical may be out of her league." Chloe finished for him, "So I'm guessing since we're here, that was your mom who almost caught is downstairs."

"The whole family actually, I saw my dad and brother come in right before mom yelled up to my sister." Chloe studied him closely as he sat next to her on the couch. "It's funny you know, as much as I want to see them, I know I'm not ready for that. I mean, how do I even begin to get them to forgive me for almost killing my brother and sister, and then disappearing for almost five years?"

"I would think they'd just be glad knowing you were ok." He knot iced how she completely disregarded his comment about his siblings. He was about to argue with het about that when suddenly he felt a burning pain in his chest and had to fight to keep from screaming in pain. "What's is it?"

"Something's wrong." He groaned, as he held his chest, suddenly he could feel himself start to orb, the baby taking control of his abilities again, and grabbed onto Chloe taking her with him.

Moments later the door burst open, and Phoebe Halliwell rushed in, "Chris?!" She glanced around the attic, half expecting to see a short skinny teenager, or tall thin man. Instead there was no one.

"Chris is gone sweetie." Piper was next to her, tears in her eyes. She had watched her sister struggle with the death of her son, and didn't want to dredge up that pain again.

"I know we thought that Piper, but I heard him talking to someone in here." Piper looked like she didn't want to dare dream of believing her. "He's alive Piper, I just know he is. We're going to find him." She ran her hand across the back of the couch, and was instantly hit with a vision of Chris a little older than when he left, but slightly younger than future Chris. He was sitting on this couch, talking with a young blond girl. She couldn't hear what they were saying, but she saw them orb out seconds after he started looking like he was in pain.

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"Jonathan he's not breathing!" Chris orbed them in to see Jonathan on the floor next to Clark, who was bleeding out from a hole in his chest, while Martha panicked holding something that looked like a glowing green bullet. It was all too clear to him that someone made a bullet from kryptonite and had shot Clark with it.

"Clark!" He rushed to the younger boy's side, checking for a pulse. There was one, but it was barely there, and it was fading fast. "You can't die on me." He practically ordered him, but he had no idea how to make him obey.

"No!" Lex was next to him in an instant, also checking for a pulse. Chris was able to see he wasn't finding one, and he just broke down, fighting against Lex when he tried to pull him into his arms.

"He can't be dead, please, he can't be." He didn't think he could handle losing Clark, especially when he could feel Lex pulling away. Finally he just collapsed in Lex's arms, "He can't be gone, he's not supposed to leave us...I love him" As he said the words his hand started to glow, and he turned quickly, his hands hovering just above the wound, he about laughed and sighed when the wound started to seal itself, and the blood disappeared. Moments later Clark gasped for breath, and his eyes flew open.

And then just like that everything around him froze. He turned half expecting to see his mother, but saw an older man in a gray robe. "Blessed Be." He'd read his family's Book of Shadows cover to cover many times over, had practically mesmerized it, trying to live up to the Future Chris and Wyatt. Because of this he recognized Angel of Destiny when he saw one.

"Please don't tell me I wasn't supposed to save him, and that you have to take him away." He would take Clark and Lex away from here now, he'd figure out a way to hide hide them. He's known the cloaking spell future Chris wrote would not be strong enough, but he would improve it.

"I'm not here to take him, his destiny has not been fulfilled yet, no, I'm here for you." The Angel's voice was gentle.

"Will you at least let me say good bye?" He asked, assuming the Angel meant to take him away.

"I'm not here to take you from these people, though I can see where you'd think that." The man had a kind smile on his face, "No, you've not completed your destiny either, same with Lex. After all, the next Charmed Ones, your Charmed Ones, are going to need you to teach them."

"My Charmed Ones?" He asked as his hand went to his stomach.

"The first of three," He couldn't help but be stunned at the man's words, "Though her sisters will come when you are a little older." The man winked, but he picked up on one word.

"It's a girl?" The angel gave a slight nod, and he was excited, but scared all at once. "Why me though, why not Wyatt or Melinda?" Automatically he thought there must be some mistake, there was nothing special about him to make him deserving of this honor. In fact he was likely to screw it up, like he's done everything else.

"I think we both know Wyatt, while magically strong was never an eager student, it is the same with Melinda. You on the other hand are equally powerful, are always eager to learn, always ready to help people. You would have sacrificed yourself for another in a heartbeat. You have already diverted a major evil by getting people to open up and let Lex in. His destiny was quite dark before you brought him into the light. It was the reason we did not intervene when you ran away. You needed to come here, to open the eyes of Jonathan and Martha Kent." To think that he'd been meant to be running toward this was rather daunting. "But it was also important for you to run away, as it helped you learn to control powers that were, admittedly, too strong for you."

"So why show up now?" Of everything was working out the way it was supposed to, why even appear to him?

"Because we have come to the realization that we have taken the choice away from you. We helped you away from the elders and your family all these years, every time you removed your necklace. For this reason we are returning that choice. If you choose I will return you to the day after you ran away. Your father will be waiting to take you home having tracked you down, you will have no recollection of the abuse you suffered in the foster system or on the streets."

"I'll not remember, Clark or Lex. My baby?" He asked, his hand going to rest over his stomach, and he knew by the look on the man's face that she would never exist. "Then thanks, but no thanks. I can live with the thought of running away from my family if it means I was running toward my men and daughters."

"Very well, I will not pretend I'm not pleased by your answer, and also tell you that staying here does not mean giving up your family for good." He was confused by the last part, but could tell he wouldn't get an answer on it. "Oh, and we'll be letting you keep the new power, it may just come in handy here." He watched as the man was surrounded in golden lights, then the room came back to life.


	15. Chapter 15

_I don't own Charmed or Smallville!_

 _Lex was walking through the mansion when suddenly he heard a baby crying. Following the noise he came to a stop infront of the room right next to where his was, and when he touched the handle the crying abruptly stopped. Throwing open the door he found himself suddenly in Julian's old room, standing right infront of the crib with a pillow in his hand. Dropping the pillow to the floor he looked into the crib, expecting to see Julian's lifeless body, but instead saw what he somehow knew to be the body of his own little girl._

Lex sat up, instantly awake, and rushed to the room from his dream, but instead of a nursary all that was there was yet another guest bedroom. He jumped when he felt a hand on his shoulder, and turned to see Chris right behind him. The young man had just entered his third trimester, and while still barely showing, Lex thought he'd never looked better. He just wished he could tell him that, but knew he couldn't. He figured if he perfected his father's "Cold Bastard" persona then he'd be able to push them away before he could hurt their daughter. However, it seemed like the more he pushed, the harder they pushed back.

"Are you alright?" Unable to help himself he wrapped his arms around Chris, and just held him close. "Lex, please, tell me what is the matter." Chris begged him, and he found that he didn't have the strength to fight anymore, so he allowed himself to be pulled into his bedroom across the hall, and sat down on one of the armchairs that was by the fire place.

He pulled Chris into his lap, sliding his hand up under his shirt so he could feel the baby move. Once he calmed down enough to speak he told what he believed to be the actual story of how Julian died.

"My little brother didn't die of SIDS like we tell everyone." His breath hitched, and bile rose in his throat, "Though I have no memory of actually doing it, I smothered him with a pillow." He couldn't bring himself to look at Chris, afraid of what he would see in his eyes.

"Lex, are you sure you smothered him? I mean, you're hardly the baby killing type, and you adored him, and if you had, why repress the memory? There had to be something about it that was important enough, you thought it was better off forgotten." He hadn't expected Chris to try and rationalize everything. He was so stunned be the reaction, that he didn't hold on to him, allowing him to get up and go to the desk.

"What are you doing?" He came up to stand behind him, reading what appeared to be a poem, only for him to cross it out, and start again.

"I'm trying to remember the spell to to restore a memory, there was one in our Book of Shadows but it needs to be reworked a little bit. You obviously need it, and haven't been sleeping, so you've probably been having nightmares, which tells me your subconscious is trying to make you remember. If we can bring the memory forward, maybe we can put your mind at ease." He was sure Chris also hoped it would help him to be excited about their baby.

"Do we need Clark here for this?" He asked stalling for time, unsure if he really wanted to remember killing his brother.

"Only if you want him here for it." The more he thought about it, the more the idea had merit. Maybe if he found out why he snapped he'd be able to stop it from happening to his own little girl.

"I'm already here, Chris texted me a couple of minutes ago, I left The Torch as soon as I could get away from Chloe." Leave it to Chris to know he was going to want Clark before he did.

"Are you sure premonition isn't one of your powers?" Chris just shook his head at him with a roll of his eyes.

"Ok, I think I got it." Chris finally said standing up and making his way over to the two of them, "All that's left is for me to say the spell, so are you ready?"

"Let's do this." He said, and listened as Chris began to chant his reworded spell,

 _His health and emotions tied_

 _In Lex's heart is where it hides_

 _To help him through his agony_

 _Bless him with his memory_

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"Was that supposed to happen?" Clark asked as he laid Lex down in the bed. No sooner had Chris said the spell than Lex had passed out.

"In all honesty, I'm not sure." He asked as he rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, "It backfired when my aunt cast it on my mom, but they said it was because my dad already had a spell on her, and the two didn't react well together."

"You mean to tell me you cast a spell on him, and don't know for sure what it will do?!" Clark was definitely angry with him, but how did you explain to someone with no magical background that spells backfiring was really not that uncommon.

Steeling himself he squared his shoulders and faced Clark head on, it was time he became confident in his magical abilities, especially if he was going to have a little girl to teach his family heritage to. "There was nothing wrong with the spell, he's fine, I'm sure of it."

"I'm sorry, it just scared me to see him do down like that." Clark wrapped his arms around him, and pulled him close. "If you're sure the spell worked, then I trust you." He then pressed their lips together in a gentle kiss.

"He'll be fine, I'm sure of it." Chris rubbed his stomach, hoping this worked. He wanted Lex to be able to appreciate the gift they were being given, to see their daughter for the miracle she was.

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 _Lex watched as his father forced his mother to hold his baby brother, he didn't remember his mother ever having to be forced to pay attention to his baby brother, but then he also didn't remember her spending much time with him._

 _His father informed his mother that he was giving the nanny the weekend off, to give her time to bond with the baby. It was right after his parents looked up to see him eavesdropping that the scene shifted._

 _He was carrying a breakfast tray up to his mother and could hear Julian's cries throughout the mansion the had been living in. Suddenly the cries were cut off completely and he put the tray down to run to Julian's nursery, where his mom was standing over the crib._

 _She turned to look at him after he called out to get a couple of times, and when she did the pillow fell from her hands. He rushed to the crib, but it was too late, Julian was already gone. He vaguely heard her tell him that Julian was safe from his father now, and that the two of them could never be pitted against eachother._

 _The scene shifted one final time, and this time it was his father walking into the nursary with him standing over the crib. He took the blame for what his mother had done, knowing that he would be spared as the Luthor heir, but his mother did not have that kind of protection._

His cheek still stung from where his father had hit him when he woke up, and he half expected to find himself on the floor as that was where his younger self had landed after being backhanded.

Looking around the room he realized that it was night time now, and that his two boys were fast asleep in his room, Chris curled up in a ball on the bed, while Clark was sprawled out on the couch. Shaking his head he got up and went over to the couch, running his fingers through the dark locks.

Clark groaned before his eyes opened, "Lex?"

"What do you say you come join us in the bed, huh?" Clark just nodded, before standing up and stretching. He made his way to the side Chris was on, and spooned up behind the other man, Chris stretching out in his sleep to conform to Clark's body. In this position the tiny baby bump was very visible, and one of the most beautiful thing Lex had ever seen.

But he wasn't the only one looking at it, his father was standing in the doorway staring at Chris's stomach as well. He practically forced the man out of the room, and didn't stop till they were far enough away that they wouldn't disturb the sleeping occupants.

"What are you doing here dad?" He asked the man once they were in his study, his dad helped himself to the scotch, while Lex sat behind his desk, making sure nothing important had been left out.

"Can't a father just want to visit his son? It's a feeling you'll be experiencing soon it appears." He bristled at his father even hinting at his daughter, taking it as almost a threat.

"If the father we were talking about was one like Jonathan Kent, then I'd say yeah, but we both know you're not like Jonathan Kent, and I'm just your heir, not your son." His father yelling at him, asking him what he'd done to his _son_ was still fresh in his mind.

"What are you talking about, of course you're my son." His father looked annoyed with him, something Lex was all too used to.

"No, your _son_ is dead remember we both thought I killed him," Lex stood up and poured himself a drink, while letting his father dwell on what he'd just said.

"Come now Lex, we both know what happened to Julian." His dad was angry with him, but he knew it was more for dredging this up again.

"We both knew the 'memory' I created to hide the truth." Lex met his father head on, tired of striving for the approval of a man who didn't care about him. "The truth is, dad, it was mom who killed Julian, I just took the fall as I knew you'd protect me as your heir, but you'd destroy her."

"How dare you tarnish your mother's memory!" His father was enraged by the accusation, as Lex he would have been had he not seen it with his own eyes.

"She thought she was being merciful, she couldn't stand the thought of subjecting him to your particular brand of parenting." He saw his father falter when he threw the accusation in is face, but found it hard to care. Besides, it was time he stopped letting the man manipulate him.

"Lex..." He turned his back on the man when he started talking, "Son, if I had known..."

"You would have done what dad? Loved me? It's like I said, _Julian_ was your son, I, on the other hand, was just your heir." He turned back to face the man, "I should thank you though, you did after all teach me one of my most important lessons." He paused, giving his dad time to think, and saw Chris standing in the doorway. "You taught me what kind of father I don't want to be."

He didn't look back to see how his words had affected the man, instead walked forward toward Chris, wrapping an arm around him, before leading him back to the bedroom; leaving his father behind.


	16. Chapter 16

_I don't own Charmed or Smallville!_

 _An. I never read the comic books, so the Charmed One's children won't follow them too closely._

"What's in the box?" Chris asked a couple of days later when he and Clark entered Lex's study at the mansion.

"My father's idea of an apology, in the hopes that we'll allow him within ten thousand feet of his granddaughter." Lex answered as he rummaged through the box, "My guess is he figures I'll soften up to the idea of him seeing our daughter if he gives me items that belonged to my mother. What he doesn't know is that I know these items were supposed to go to me a long time ago, he just didn't care to see it through."

As if spurred on by the confused looks on their faces, Lex handed them an opened letter that, judging by the written words in the page, was likely ment to go to Lex long before now, judging by the letter it was meant to go to him on his 18th birthday. Chris looked up as Lex's hand came in contact with a long stick, and suddenly there was a bright flash of light, and he was blown backwards off his feet.

"Chris, Chris, wake up." He came to a couple minutes later to Clark gently smacking his face, an extremely worried look on his face. There was a groan on the other side of the room that told him he wasn't the only one returning to consciousness.

"Everone ok?" Came Lex's voice on the other side of the room, "Clark, are Chris and the baby ok?" Lex must have seen Clark holding him up, and assumed the worst.

"We're both fine, though I think neither one of us liked that." He said putting his hand over his stomach, feeling the baby moving around like crazy.

"Chris?" Lex looked him in shock, which in return had him looking at Lex in confusion. "You look different." It was then he noticed the long staff in Lex's hand, with a light purple stone at the end of it.

"Do I have mousey brown hair and brown eyes, maybe a little bit chubby?" He asked, allowing Clark to help him up. When Lex nodded he explained, "That is how I look to anyone with magic, it's the disguise I use to keep anyone with magic from finding me."

Taking off the necklace and handing it to Lex, he saw the relief in his face when his normal appearance returned. He said a quick spell he'd memorized out of Future Chris's journal to allow Lex to see through the charm before taking it back and putting it back on. "Much better," Lex grinned as he was able to see the real Chris again. "But wait, why was I not able to see the real you all of a sudden?"

"I think that might have something to do with it." Chris said, indicating the staff clutched in Lex's hand. He was surprised when Lex looked dowrn at it in shock, as though he hadn't realized he was holding it.

"He would be correct in that," Came the voice of an older man standing in the doorway, a staff of his own clutched tightly in his hand, though his was missing the purple stone. "Now if you don't mind, I'd like to talk to my grandson...in private." The last part was added when he and Clark made no move to leave.

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"What happened?!" Clark was on his feat the moment Lex appeared in the barn, a young girl, unconscious, in his arms. He'd been shocked when Lex had appeared in a spiral of light, but seeing the girl had quickly snapped him out of it.

"It turns out my grandfather's idea of family bonding is killing witches, and apparently I needed to be tested before being welcomed into the family. It is a test I can proudly say I failed. I just wish I had known the old man was in league with something called a darklighter." Lex said, putting the girl down on the couch, showing the arrow sticking out of her shoulder. "Get Chris, she needs to be healed."

Clark sped out at super speed, returning seconds later with Chris in his arms, "A little warning next time," Chris said as he was placed on his feet, looking a little disoriented. "Tam!" He rushed forward and knelt next to the girl on the couch, "What happened?" He asked getting ready to pull the arrow out.

"Something called a Darklighter hit her." Chris snatched his hand back, backing away from her as soon as the words left his mouth.

"One of you is going to have to take the arrow out before I can heal her." He saw the confused looks on their faces, "Darklighter arrows are poisonous to whitelighters." Was all he had time to say before be was gently pushed out of the way by Lex.

"Talk me through this," They had Clark use his heat vision to cut part of the arrow off so Lex could pull the rest of it out. "Take that as far from here as you can." He said, handing it to Clark who was gone seconds later, Chris's hands already outstretched and glowing over the wound that was healing itself.

Seconds after the wound healed the girl sat straight up, eyes wide and fearful as they glanced quickly around the room. "Easy there Fireball, you're safe now." He was surprised when he saw the sadness in the girl's eyes, even as she seemed to relax inspite of herself.

"My cousin used to call me Fireball, he'd get so mad when anyone else would." She looked like she was about to cry, which was making Lex very uncomfortable. That was one of the great things about Clark and Chris, the two rarely ever cried.

"So Wyatt would call you it all the time just to annoy me." Chris said with a laugh, while the girl gasped.

"No way!" Clark had returned by now, and both of them watched in shock as Chris removed the necklace to show the girl his true appearance. "Chris?!" The poor guy barely had time to react before she was throwing herself at him and wrapping her arms around his neck. "Aunt Piper is going to freak when she finds out."

"Look Tam, I'm trusting you to keep my secret here, I'm not ready for anyone else to know where I am." Chris was stern as he spoke, pressing the necklace into her hand and chanting over it just like he had when Lex had been holding it, before putting it back on.

"You don't understand, Aunt Piper has been going crazy worrying about you, and Uncle Leo too. Chris, they thought you died a while back, Uncle Leo and Mom both sensed you for bit and they said they could feel you slipping. We'd all just been attacked, and by the time they were done healing us they said you were gone. Then Aunt Pheobe heard your voice in the attic a few months back, but when she got there you were gone. She got a premonition of you, though it was the actual you, not the fake you from before." She glanced over him, as if taking everything in, her eyes widening when they landed on his stomach. "Though she never mentioned that!"

Chris still wasn't huge, though he was showing a bit more, which Lex thought was a good thing given he was 7 months along. "Well, this is new."

"That is what happens when an explosion disburses radiation from meteor rock over thousands of miles." Lex stepped in seeing Chris was uncomfortable. It was the explanation LuthorCorp had released after his father had found out about the baby so his dad could publicly claim his daughter as his granddaughter; something Lex still hadn't forgiven him for.

"So is Cueball the father?" Once upon a time Lex would have taken offense to the nickname, but he could see she was teasing.

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"There you are." Tamara smiled at her mother as she entered the house after Cris had orbed her home. After Chris, Lex, and Clark had explained about meteor rocks and how they gave people special abilities. She was sure they were holding something back, but she wasn't going to push Chris away again by demanding answers he wasn't ready to give.

She never really understood just how difficult her cousin had it until her powers were unsound earlier that year, to be afraid of your powers, to always have to worry about wether or not you'd hurt someone was exhausting. She had her aunt Piper's ability to speed up molecules, but while she couldn't make thing blow up when she was little, things did start on fire. Her parents had decided to bind her powers after she had almost burned down the house.

She'd gotten to meet Clark's parents, who had both made sure she called her parents to let them know she was ok, and while her mom was leery of letting her stay in the same house with the wizard who kidnapped her, she agreed to call off the search party once she heard he'd actually taken her so he could get her to someone who could save her life. She freaked when she accidentally set dinner on fire. Instead of freaking out, Martha just put the fire out, and carried on as if nothing had happened. It was almost as if destroying things was an everyday occurrence.

When it became obvious that she was beating herself up over not being able to always control powers, Chris had promised to help her learn controls, Lex offering to be her training partner. She'd been shocked to learn that Lex had just had his powers unbound that day, remembering how he'd fought off the darklighter. Granted, he'd used his staff to beat the darklighter unconscious, and had only used magic to transport them out of there.

"Sorry I'm late, I was at a friend's house." She informed her mom, unable to keep the smile off her face. After dinner she'd gone out to the loft in the barn with Chris and Clark to work on homework, Lex helping her with Chemistry when she finally threw the book across the room in frustration.

"Oh?" She could see that her dad was pleased to hear she was hanging out with friends, unlike her twin sister Kat, she did not make friends easily, as she couldn't stand the cattiness and fake girls in her high school. "Yeah, they're a year or two a head of me in school, but it made homework a breeze. There was even a chemistry wiz there who was able to explain things to me in a way I understood."

"Did I just hear you say you know how to do our Chemistry homework?" She turned to see Kat, along with their cousins PJ (Prudence Johnna) and Melinda standing in the doorway to the kitchen. Kat, Melinda, and PJ were as close as sisters, and liked to believe they would be the next Charmed Ones, since Melinda could move things with her mind while orbing them, like Tamara's own mother, and Kat could sorta freeze things, they slowed down but didn't quite freeze, and PJ had gotten one premonition. And while she knew they didn't mean to leave her out, it still hurt to think they thought she wasn't good enough to be one of the Charmed Ones.

Then she felt her mom's arms wrap around her, and thought back to the conversations they'd had about how she felt like the odd one out who could never live up to Prue, and suddenly didn't feel so alone.

"Mom, we're going to borrow her for a bit." Kat grinned as she and PJ each grabbed a wrist and hauled her off toward their bedroom, presumably to work on their homework.


	17. Chapter 17

_I don't own Charmed or Smallville!_

Chris pulled his jacket tighter around him as he hurried toward the jewelry store where he was supposed to meet Clark to help him pick out a birthday gift for Martha. He was the first one there, so took the opportunity to look around, looking up each time he heard the bell above the door go off.

"I passed Clark on my way in, he was talking to some girl." He glanced outside at Tam's words, and saw that Clark was indeed talking to Lana. He and Clark had asked her along to help them pick something out, and Lex had been kind enough to pick her up and drop her off here before going back to the plant to work for a few more hours.

When Clark finally entered the store they made their way over to the counter where the person behind the counter showed them a pair of earring Martha had admired the last time she was in. "Did my mom make it a point to try on anything without four numbers in the price tag?" Everyone chuckled and the man pulled out a piece containing meteor rock from underneath the counter.

The affects were instantaneous, Clark faltered, taking a few steps back, and Chris felt the baby moving, almost like it was writhing in pain. He'd only taken a few steps back before suddenly there was a high pitch noise that had everyone dropping to the ground and covering their ears, while the glass in the cases shattered around them. He barely noticed the man with the gun enter the store, more concerned with the pain rolling across his stomach.

"Chris?" He turned at the sound of Tam's voice, and noticed they were the only ones left in the store, as the sheriff led the gun man out of the store.

"I'm fine, you?" She confirmed that she was indeed ok, so he turned to Clark, and his heart about fell into the pit of his stomach when he saw the scared and confused look on the other boy's face. "Clar...k?" He groaned as the pain rolled through his stomach again, wrapping his arms around himself, hoping to make it stop.

At that moment Lana rushed in, kneeling infront of Clark, asking him what was going on. Chris felt like he might be sick when Clark told her he couldn't see. Lana helped guide Clark out of the store, while Tam helped him. When they were outside the store Chris tried to heal Clark's eyes, but for some reason they wouldn't heal.

They didn't have long to think before Chris was doubling over in pain, "I'm going to orb over to Wayne Manor, I think this baby is dead set on coming today." He bit out after another contraction. They hadn't wanted him to go into labor as it would be too dangerous for him and the baby if she were to try and enter the birth canal, as there was no way out.

"I'll get a hold of Lex and the Kents and let them know what's going on." He nodded, preparing to break off from the group before the paramedics that had just arrived saw him, and forced him to go to the hospital. He wanted to give birth at Wayne Manor, with his own doctor to assist him, away from the paparazzi who all wanted the first picture of the newest Luthor heir.

"I'm going with you." Clark grabbed for his arm, but Chris easily dodged him.

"No, you need to get your eyes checked, I don't like that I can't heal you." He cupped Clark's face between his hands, and pulled him down for a sweet kiss.

"I'm not missing our daughter's birth, so you may as well take me with you." Life would be so much easier for him without Clark's stubborn streak.

"Lex is going to meet you there with the Kents and he's flying in the worlds best optomologists." Tam informed them as she tucked his cell phone into her pocket, and wondered when she'd taken it from his pocket. Suddenly another contraction ripped through him, and he hustled the three of them into an alley way so they could orb them away while Lana was preoccupied with giving the sheriff her statement.

They had only made before a familiar voice called out, "I need a paramedic over here, my son's partner was in the store an is heavily pregnant." He then wrapped an arm around his shoulders, "Not to worry Mr. Bennet, I've already made the call to have the best specialists flown in."

"His personal physician is already waiting at the hospital." Came an authoritative voice he was familiar with. Lex was making his way over to them, a stunned looking Bruce just a few steps behind him, "My father is correct though, we do need to get my partners to the hospital." The paramedics came running as he spoke, and both him and Clark were loaded up into ambulances.

"I'll be fine, go with Clark." He gritted out between clenched teeth as a contraction hit again. He knew how scared Clark was, and would rather he not be alone.

"Tamara and Jonathan are with him." Martha said as she appeared along side him. "Lex and I will be right here with you." He was comforted to know they were both there for him, as he was more afraid than he was willing to let on.

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"She's so tiny." Were the first words out of Clark's mouth when his daughter was placed in his arms. It had taken some convincing to get him to agree to hold her, but he was instantly in love the moment she was placed in his arms. "And her grip is strong."

Their daughter's grip was strong, not strong enough to hurt someone, but stronger than a regular newborns. Were it not for the shock of bright red hair Chris would have easily said she was just his and Clark's daughter, but the red hair that was the exact same shade Lex had as a child.

"Now that everyone is here will you tell us her name?" Jonathan asked the question on everyone's minds, including Lex and Clark's, who had agreed to let him name the baby.

"Charlotte Juliana, but call her Charlie for short." Looking directly at Lex he laid out his reasoning for the name, "I wanted to honor your brother, which is why I gave her Juliana as a middle name, and I wanted her to have something of her own, I didn't want her to grow up feeling like she had to live up to someone. I want her to become her own person."

"Charlotte Juliana Bennet Kent Luthor, that's quite a mouthful." Jonathan said with a teasing grin.

"Actually the order is Luthor Bennet Kent, with Kent being the main one she uses. We agreed that since you guys have been parents to all three of us over the last few years, it only made sense for her to go my your last name." Lex explained, and everyone pretended not to see the tears in Jonathan and Martha's eyes.

"But her birth certificate says Luthor _Halliwell_ Kent," Chloe was quick to point out, staring at the piece of paper, and Tam's head shot up as she looked at him in shock.

"That's my name, my real name is actually Christopher Perry Halliwell, Warren is our family line, and my grandfather's name is Victor Bennet." He rubbed the back of his neck nervously. He couldn't help but worry that they would be angry at him for not telling them who he really was.

"We figured you were using a fake name, especially when we tried to track down your family. It's not that we wanted you to leave, we wanted them to know you were safe." Jonathan stepped forward and pulled him into a comforting hug.

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Chris stared down at his sleeping baby, and not for the first time, wondered how he would feel if she suddenly disappeared, and he didn't know where she was. It made him truly regret leaving his own parents to wonder abou him all these years. It was also the main reason he snuck out to the barn, his phone grasped firmly in his hand.

"Hello?" A female voice answered on the third ring.

"Mom?" He was struck by how much he wanted to talk to her.

"She's out right now, and you have a lot of nerve calling here after all this time. Are you hoping to get her hopes up just so you can have the pleasure of crushing them again?" He knew the other person on the line was Melinda now, and it hurt to hear what she had to say, even if he thought it was true himself.

"Please Mel, I'm sorry." He said, fighting back tears, but in able to keep the quiver out of his voice.

"If you were sorry you would have come home a long time ago, you must have known what this was doing to mom and dad, it was killing them to not know where you were, but you had to have your temper tantrum. Well maybe it's best if you stay gone, at least you can't hurt them, or any of us, anymore than you already have." Chris sat with the phone to his ear even after she had slammed the receiver down, ending the call.

That was how Martha found him sometime later. She didn't press him for answers as to why he was crying, instead she wrapped him in her arms and just held him close. "They'll never forgive me for leaving." He whispered when he finally got himself under control. He'd screwed up so much in the past that maybe Melinda was right and they were better off.

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"Wyatt, can I talk to you for a second?" Wyatt looked up at Melinda when she entered his room, and looked at his girlfriend to make sure she was ok with it.

"I promised my cousin I'd call her so I could listen to her gush about her new goddaughter." Lois kissed his cheek before heading out of the room to make her phone call.

"So what's up?" He asked, giving Melinda his full attention, he was surprised to see the fear and guilt in her eyes, and instantly started to worry.

"I messed up, like big time messed up." She looked at him, pleading with her eyes for him to make things better.

"Did a spell go wrong?" He kept his voice low, in case Lois was near by, as she didn't know the family secret.

"No, it's worse than that." Her eyes were filling with tears, and now he was really starting to worry, "Chris called, he wanted mom, and I yelled at him and hung up."

He could understand Melinda's anger, he felt that way himself sometimes, especially when he remembered how their family had suffered over the years. However, he's always remind himself that they still had eachother to lean on, but Chris, well Chris was on his own.

"Mel, please tell me you didn't." He looked at her pleading with her to do as he asked.

"I'm so sorry Wyatt, I was just so angry, I wasn't thinking." She sniffled a bit, barely holding back her tears. "Please don't tell mom and dad, they'll hate me." She begged even as he pulled her into his arms.

"We'll be disappointed in you, but we could never hate you." Came their mother's voice from the doorway, and Wyatt looked up to see her crying.

He was actually glad to see their dad wasn't there, he would have had Melinda convinced that he hated her. Their dad too losing Chris hard, blamed himself for failing him...for breaking his promise to be there.


	18. Chapter 18

_I don't own Charmed or Smallville!_

Martha smiled at her husband as he came into the house for lunch, he quickly washed his hands before relieving her of their granddaughter.

"Do you ever feel guilty for keeping Chris's parents in the dark about him being here, about Charlie?" She asked Jonathan as she watched him coo at the baby. "I just sometimes wish they knew the wonderful he's growing into."

"Sure I feel bad sometimes, but then I think about him, hooked up to all those machines, dying, and no one coming to save him. It's hard to feel guilty after that." Jonathan had a point, but still she felt guilty. It was hard not to when she thought of the time Clark had been missing. It had practically torn her apart, not knowing where he was for a couple of months, she hated to think of how it would be not knowing where he was, or if he was safe for years.

She was about to change the subject when she heard Jonathan gasp, and turned just in time to see Charlie orb out of his arms.

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Piper was enjoying her day off from her club and restaurant by spending the day at home with her sisters. "We've tried to find out a little something about these people she likes to hang out with, but she's very tight lipped about it all." Paige and Henry were both starting to worry about their daughter, as she'd started disappearing a lot, hanging out with people they'd never even met. Though she did talk quite a bit about what she did while she was with them. "Apparently we have someone named Lex to thank for our daughters passing Chemistry now."

"Melinda told me that Tam was helping her with that, I guess we'll all have to split the tutoring bill when it comes." Piper teased, "I really don't think you guys have anything to worry about though, as far as I can tell whoever she's been hanging out with had had a positive affect on her."

"I agree with Piper, I mean, look at her, she's happy, doing better in school than she ever has, she even joined her school paper, though that's just her taking after her awesome aunt Phoebe." Both Piper and Paige rolled their eyes at their sister.

"Not to mention how well she's learned to control her powers." Piper chimed in, trying not to let that thought lead to thoughts of another witch with control issues. It seemed like no matter what she did, her thoughts always went back to her little boy, who she failed. She'd meant what she said to Melinda, that she could never stop loving her, but damn if she wasn't angry with her for scaring Chris off when he was finally reaching out for them.

The three sisters froze when they heard crying coming from the other room, and rushed in to find an infant with red hair, wailing at the top of her lungs. "Hey now, where did you come from?" Pheobe cooed to the child trying to get her to stop crying, as she picked her up and tried rocking her back and forth.

It was Piper who noticed the blanket, or rather the symbol on the blanket. The blanket itself was a light purple, and there was a triquitra made of a darker purple silk sewn into the corner of it. It was just like the one each of her children as well as her nieces and nephew had as babies, the boys each had a blue one, while the girls had pink.

"Here, let me take her." She said, reaching for the screaming infant when neither Phoebe or Paige could calm her down. "Did you notice her..."

"Blanket..." She trailed off when she was orbed into what appeared to be a country style kitchen.

The woman in said kitchen turned at the sound of her voice, "Oh thank God," The relief was clear on her face as her eyes came to rest on the now quiet baby. "She's back now Clark...no, you still need to come home...she brought someone with her."

"I take it this belongs to you?" She asked when the other woman hung up the phone.

"My granddaughter, we babysit while her parents are at work and school." The woman explained as she took the baby from her. "Jonathan, let Lex know she's back home now, but he's still going to need to come home, as she brought someone with her." Piper turned to see another person, this time a man, walk into the room, the phone already up to his ear.

"I'm so sorry about all this, but you don't seem all that surprised." She couldn't help but smile at the flustered woman.

"It's fine, not the first time a baby has decided to take me for a ride, granted, all of them had been related to me until now." She hadn't realized there were any other Whitelighter hybrids other than her children, sister, nieces and nephew out there.

"Mom, we're home!" She heard the voice of a young man call from the other room, along with a door shutting, and wondered why she hadn't heard a car pull up.

"You said Charlie orbed out and brought someone home with her." This next new voice had her heart pounding in her chest, even before she saw the speaker. She would have known that voice anywhere, which was why it was so confusing not to see the familiar face that went along with it when the two teens entered the kitchen. However, the whispered "Mom?" Was all she needed to hear before she was across the room, wrapping her son in a tight embrace.

"Where have you been?" She was practically sobbing as she held onto him, but she didn't care, "Your father and I have been going out of our minds worrying about you." She tried to scold him, but just being able to hold him again, after all these years made it hard to stay mad at him. She pulled back just enough to look into his unfamiliar brown eyes, "Five years Chris, five years is an awful long time to wonder where your child is, if he's safe, if he's happy, if he's being taken care of, if he's loved, if he knows you love him!"

"I'm so sorry mom, I just kept hurting people, first Melinda, then Wyatt, I just thought everyone would be safer without me." It tore her heart out to see him crying, but it was a relief when he took off the necklace his father gave him all those years ago, and his appearance changed into that of the child she'd raised.

"Sweetheart, none of that was your fault, your brother told us about the demons in the park that day. We know you were trying to protect your little sister, you were almost killed trying to protect her, why didn't you just tell us?" It had been the question that had been plaguing her since that fateful day.

"I just...you were so mad, I wanted to prove to you that I wasn't the screw up you thought I was...that I was going to be just as good, just as smart as Future Chris." It made her feel like a terrible parent, realizing that her child's insecurities were not realized by her. That she had been unable to make Chris see just how much he was loved by her and Leo.

"There was nothing for you to prove, not to us, we love you just the way you are. If you never turned out to be like Future Chris we would have thought that was for the better. It would have meant that you grew up safe and loved. That you never had to doubt how much your father and I loved you, that we were both around to keep you safe." Her eyes filled with tears as she realized her son had grown up just like his future self had, "It was your father and I that failed you."

"No mom, you guys were great parents!" She knew that wasn't true, the great set of parents had already ushered their son out of the room, taking the baby with them, giving the two of them some time alone.

She didn't have time to respond to him though as at that moment a blue swirl of light appeared in the kitchen, a swirl she knew brought a wizard. Pushing Chris behind her, ready to protect him from the newcomer, she was surprised to feel his hands on her shoulders, turning her to the side, and the wizard was thrown to the ground by an unseen force. The family that lived in the house came running at the sound of the flour jar blowing up, flour ending up everywhere in the kitchen.

"Lex?" Chris pushed his way past her and rushed to help the wizard up, a young man she'd seen in many magazines, and was easily recognized by his bald head. "Are you alright?"

"I can see I wasn't far off base when I said I would need to use you as a human shield when I finally met your mother." It was hard to miss the smitten look on the young man's face, and it saddened her to realize just how much of her son's life she'd missed out on.

Chris just rolled his eyes, "Mom do you think you could call dad so I can introduce you both to everyone?" Having Chris looking at her like she hung the moon once again only increased her guilt.

"You're not wearing your necklace, I'm sure he'd hear you if you called." She encouraged him, remembering how taking the necklace off had enabled her to see the real him, and figured that a charm had been tied to it to keep him hidden from them. "He'd be over the moon to hear you calling for him...I promise." She smiled reassuringly when he looked fearful.

"Dad?!" It was only seconds after Chris called out for Leo before her husband was orbing into the kitchen, his eyes frantically searching the kitchen before tearing up as they landed on Chris. She didn't even think her presence or anyone else's registered to him as he pulled their son into a hug.

"Ok, let the boy breath." She finally said when she noticed Chris was starting to look uncomfortable.

"Piper? How?" Leo looked at her in shock, this hold on their son loosening, but not letting go.

"Someone's baby, I'm assuming our granddaughter, orbed me here." She motioned to the fussy baby in the largest teen's arms, before raising an eyebrow at her son.

"This is Charlotte, and yes, she's my daughter, well all three of ours actually." Chris said as he took the baby from the other boy, "And before you say that it's impossible, let us explain." She and Leo followed them into a comfortable living room, and sat down on either side of their son. They listened to him explain about meteor rocks, and radiation, and how their granddaughter came to be. It was far fetched, but they didn't doubt their son for a second.

They were introduced to Jonathan and Martha Kent, along with their son Clark, and Lex Luthor. She wasn't sure how she felt about the wizard being in a relationship with the two teens, but she saw how smitten the three were with each other, so was willing to give him a chance...though she was going to be watching him very closely.

"You do realize Grams is going to be adamant that she have a wiccaning." Piper said as she took her granddaughter from her son, unable to contain her smile as the baby was instantly taken with her hair. "Lord knows she wouldn't hear of you not having one." She said with a fond grin when she remembered how up in arms her Grams had been when she'd said they didn't want to give Chris one.

"We were planning on having one for her, we were just trying to figure out how." Clark was quick to assure her, not realizing how his words would affect them. That they were trying to figure something out meant Chris hadn't been planning on coming to them to have it. This didn't surprise her, but it still hurt.

"We have plenty of time to think about it now, Clark's been suspended, and I've been expelled for leaving school." Seeing Chris this angry she almost expected to see something fly across the room, and was surprised when nothing did.

"You told him it was about Charlie didn't you?" Martha asked, while Jonathan looked angry.

"Yeah, well, he says he's given us enough warnings about missing school." Chris answered, and just watching her son interact with the Kents made it easy for her to realize that these were the people who had been parents to him when she and Leo couldn't. She hated herself for it, but she couldn't help but feel jealous of them for being there for him when she wasn't able to. For them getting to experience what she couldn't.

"What about school back home?" Piper had always assumed that when they found Chris he would move back home. She never considered any other alternatives.

"I'm sorry mom, dad, but I don't plan on moving back to San Fransisco, I mean, Lex ad Clark are both here, my daughter is here. I'm staying with them." It was hard to hear, but at the same time it showed just how much her little boy had grown up. She just wished she'd been there to see it.


	19. Chapter 19

_I don't own Charmed or Smallville!_

Chris kept his head down as he, Lex, and Clark followed his parents through the halls of the school toward the principal's office. The principal had been expecting them judging by his lack of surprise when they all entered his office. "Principal Gibbons, thank you for meeting with us." His mom said as she sat down across from the man. "I'm Piper Halliewell, and this is my husband Leo Wyatt, we are Chris's parents."

"I'm assuming you're here to talk about me expelling him. I'll have you know I don't tolerate truancy." The man was quick to say, but his mother's irritation was clear on her face.

"Neither do we sir, however, the only time he missed was right after his daughter was born, which, given the fact that he was the one who gave birth to her I find to be quite understandable." The man opened his mouth to speak, but his mom was not going to allow it, "I'm not done. He was called out of school today because his father and I showed up at the Kent's home, and they were called home to confirm that we were who we said we were..."

"As they should have been, given who the other father of their daughter is." Chris wanted to groan when he heard Lionel Luthor's voice, but instead just put a calming hand on Lex's arm to keep him from over reacting. "After all, we can't be too careful when it comes to my grandchild."

"Do we even want to know how he found out about this?" Chris leaned over to ask Clark, who shook his head with a dark expression on his face.

It was clear the man wasn't going to win, so Principal Gibbons just sighed, "Very well, I will rescind the expulsion, and suspension, but they had both better not miss anymore school."

"Unless their daughter needs them." Piper was quick to add, and it was clear she wasn't going to budge on this.

"Unless their daughter needs them." The principal finally gave in.

"Well, I think that's everything, I believe the boy's have classes to finish, we will see you both when you get back to the farm." Piper said with a grin as she took Charlie from Clark, before kissing both of them on the cheek. "Lex, would you mind giving Leo and I a ride back?" Chris suddenly felt bad for making Lex buy the sedan he usually drove now. At the time he thought it was better for the little family they were building, but now his parents were going to use it to grill the wizard.

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Piper moved quickly through the kitchen, putting the finishing touches on dinner, wanting everything tonight to be perfect. Chris was coming for dinner, and while she had wanted to invite the entire family for dinner, Chris had asked them to just keep it them, Melinda, and Wyatt.

"Mom?!" She heard Wyatt's voice coming from the sunroom. She had told him and Melinda that they were having people over tonight, but had figured it best not to say who. She would rather them not decided to skip it all together. She hated how angry the two were with their brother for running away, and hoped that by seeing him again they would remember how much they had loved him. That they could learn to forgive him.

"In here sweetie!" She called out to him, and listened as he made his way into the kitchen.

"I take it dad and Melinda aren't home yet." He stated as he walked into the kitchen, she smacked his hand with the spoon she was using to mix up the cake batter when he moved to sneak a taste. "So, who's coming to dinner tonight?" He asked for what seemed like the thousandth time that week.

"I told you you'd find out when they got here, now go change you're clothes, they should be here soon." She smiled as he did as she'd told him.

Leo and Melinda orbed in at that moment, only Melinda had her cousins PJ and Kat with her. "I told you this was going to be just our family tonight, now I'm sorry, but you're going to have to take your cousins home." She wasn't sure what had gotten into her daughter lately, but she was almost at her wits end with her. Melinda didn't listen to a word she or Leo had to say, Leo said the friends she hung out with at magic school were not the type they would approve of. She was almost as bad, if not worse, than Phoebe was when she was in high school.

The fight didn't even have a chance to break out before Chris orbed in, "Sorry we're late, someone decided it was the perfect time to spit up all over her grandfather, and ended up needing a change of clothes." Chris explained as he cradled his daughter close to him, the baby fast asleep in his arms. He had taken the charm off his necklace once she and Leo had promised that his family would let him come around in his own time, so he looked like himself when he orbed in.

"Whoa, what's he doing here?" Melinda glared at her brother.

"We're having your brother over for dinner, so you best hurry up and take your cousins home and hurry back to get ready for dinner." Piper spoke sternly to her daughter, even as her oldest son came into the room and stopped to stare in shock at Chris. "I'm serious Melinda, orb them home right now," She then turned to her nieces, "And please tell your mothers I will call them later." Knowing that it was just as likely that her sisters would make an appearance before dinner was over.

"What are the odds of her coming back?" She could hear how dejected her son sounded, and knew he saw her daughter's reaction to him as rejection, which she was sure is what Melinda likely meant it as.

"Would you blame her for not coming back, at least she won't stay gone for five years." Wyatt's voice was dripping with anger, "I'm suddenly not hungry." With that he orbed away, and Piper had a feeling dinner was just going to be her, Leo, Chris, and Charlie.

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It had been a few weeks since the disastrous dinner, and Chris had been very careful to avoid coming around when his siblings were home. He figured it was best to let them come around on their own.

"You ready for lunch?" He asked, knocking on his dad's office door at Magic School. His school had a teachers inservice that day, so he and Clark had asked his dad if they could have lunch with him, Lex had wanted to join them, but had been called into a meeting at the last minute. He wanted his mom and dad to have the opportunity to get to know his men.

"You bet." His dad started clearing off his desk so they could eat. It was decided that they would just eat in his office since the school was short handed, and he couldn't get away. As such, Martha had gladly packed a lunch for the three of them, and offered to keep Charlie for the afternoon, but they declined, knowing Chris's parents liked spending time with the baby too.

"I hope you brought extra." Lex appeared in the doorway in a spiral of light, "Turns out the 'meeting' was just one of my father's ploys to try and orchestrate some father/son bonding." It was obvious the man was not impressed, and had likely left right after figuring it out. He had a giant smile on his face as he took their daughter from Chris.

He sat down across from Leo while Chris and Clark started unloading the basket of food Martha had packed. "So, how are your parents Clark?" His dad tried to make conversation, and decided on one of the safer topics.

They made small talk from there, stopping when the door flew open and Wyatt made his way in, "Oh, sorry dad, didn't realize you were busy." Wyatt started to back out when Clark spoke.

"That's ok, my mom made plenty if you want to join us." Wyatt looked like he was going to join them, before his eyes landed on Chris, and he looked like he was going to turn around, but paused when ther was a loud bang in the hallway.

"I'll just be right back." His dad said as he stood up and made his way past Wyatt and into the hallway. They knew he wanted them to stay behind, but he probably also knew it was likely they would all follow him.

Once in the hallway they saw a group of students picking on a smaller boy who was wearing glasses. It was a clear case of bullying, and they watched as his dad moved to break it up.

"Oh look, I think he wants his book back." One of the boys said as he held the book out behind him, using his other arm to pin the boy to the wall. It was clear the boy was about to lose control, but there hadn't been time.

Suddenly the smaller boy let off a sonic wave so powerful the floors abs ceiling began to crack. Seeing what was happening, Chris used his powers to force Lex back into his dad's office since he was holding Charlie, not wanting her to be harmed.

"ENOUGH!" Wyatt's voice projected loudly down the hall, making the floor tremble and come apart.

"Kat!" He heard his sister's voice call out, ant looked to see the ground beneath his cousin crumble away, thinking quick he used his powers to push her further back out of harms way.

At this point students were running down the hall, teachers directing them into classrooms where the floors were stable. Clark's hand closed around his, ready to pull him down the hall, but he yanked it away when he noticed Wyatt standing still in his shock. "We gotta go, come on!" He placed his hands on his brother's back, forcing him to move.

He turned when her heard a child's cry, and saw a little boy and girl trapped along a wall, the floor crumbling beneath them. "I got them!" He yelled to Clark over the chaos and orbed onto the thin ledge of floor the children were standing on. "It's going to be ok, I promise," He held his hands out to them, and orbed them to firmer ground.

"Chris!" He turned to Clark when he heard him call his name, and saw him motion to another teen who was trapped, and nodded, knowing if Clark tried to get to him the floor would likely crumble under the weight of the larger teen.

"You can orb?" The boy looked at him in shock, and Chris nodded.

"I'm Melinda Halliwell's older brother." He explained, reaching his hand out to the kid. He was shocked when he felt an electric current pass through him, but thought nothing of it as he orbed them to firmer ground.

He pushed the boy forward as the ground behind them started to crumble, but he must have pushed him too hard as the boy fell to the ground. "You're all the same." He looked at him accusingly before using his leg to sweep Chris's feet out from under him. Unfortunately the ground behind him had already begun to crumble and his added weight sped up the process, and he felt himself falling, then nothing but pain.


	20. Chapter 20

_I don't own Charmed or Smallville!_

Wyatt stood at the foot of his little brother's bed, trying not to look at all the tubes hooked up to him. It was just seconds after the chaos stopped that his dad had orbed down to where Chris lay, half buried in rubble. They had carefully dug him out, but when they tried to heal him nothing happened. It was decided that he would be taken to the hospital in the town he was currently living in, the two men he'd come to the school with had said no one there would question the injuries. Apparently people were constantly getting hurt in weird ways in this town.

What made this whole thing worse was the realization that his carelessness is the reason his little brother was hooked up to so many tubes and wires, and had doctors telling their parents that they should consider taking Chris off life support. That his little brother showed no signs of brain activity or being able to breath on his own.

"For someone who wants nothing to do with him, you sure can't take your eyes off him." He turned to see Lex Luther standing behind him, and wondered not for the first time what his connection to Chris was. He knew it was Clark's parents who took Chris in and finally convinced him to stop running and gave him a home. He figured Chris and Clark were probably more like brothers, and wondered if it was the same with Lex.

"I was angry with him, I wanted him to hurt like he hurt my parents. I wanted him to feel bad for leaving, but instead, I understand the fear behind his decision. The thought that you could possibly kill someone you care about with your powers is enough to make anyone want to distance them selves from everyone." He knew he was sure fighting the urge to run, and this was the first time he'd hurt someone he cared about.

The worst part was remembering the struggles Chris had growing up, being constantly yelled at for breaking things. Always being afraid to get too close to other people for fear that he'd lose control and hurt them. He'd sometimes wonder if his parents had realized just how powerful his baby brother's powers were, that Chris's small body couldn't seem to contain them. It was one of the reasons he figured he was always the first to go check on Chris after a punishment.

"How long have you been standing there?" The tubes and wires melted away in a puff of smoke, and he saw Chris's bruised and battered face staring back at him from the bed. "What did you do Lex?" Chris asked the bald man sitting next to the bed, no longer standing behind him.

"I was checking to see where he stood." It was then he realized this must have been the wizard his parents had been talking about, and he'd obviously fallen for one of his illusions.

"I'm fine, how are you feeling?" He asked, moving to sit down next to Chris, all animosity he felt towards him now gone.

"Like I fell from the second story of a house and landed of a pile of rocks." Chris groaned as he tried to sit up, him and Lex both springing forward to help him. "Does Clark have Charlie?" He asked, looking around the room.

"Martha took Charlie for a walk, she was getting fussy. Clark and Jonathan had your dad take them back to magic school to try and find out who pushed you, and is stopping us from healing you, and your mom is in the waiting room making some phone calls." Lex rattled off everyone's locations, as Wyatt didn't know who half those people were.

"You were supposed to come get us if he woke up." He heard his mom's voice from the doorway and saw her standing there with a baby in her arms, and a red haired woman behind her.

"I just woke up, how is she?" Chris asked, not taking his eyes off the baby in his mom's arms. It turns out he had mostly bumps and bruises, but had four broken ribs.

"She is just fine, we were safe in your dad's office when everything went down." Lex was obviously put out at not being allowed to help, but also understood that it had to be that way to protect the baby Wyatt had barely noticed was in his dad's office.

"Look who I found wandering the halls?" A bubbly blond asked as she entered the room, a taller man in an expensive suit following more sedately behind her. He looked at her, startled,when she suddenly exclaimed, "Wait, I know you! My cousin has shown me your picture, your dating Lois Lane aren't you. She told me you and her were going to go to Metropolis University next year, just like Chris is." Oh how he wished he'd told his mom his plans already. "Which is obviously not common knowledge." She trailed off seeing the stunned look on his mom's face, instantly looking apologetic.

"I hadn't realized you had decided on a university." His mother was only looking at him, so figured she knew Chris was planning on going there.

"I didn't decide all that long ago." He knew his mom hated the thought of him living so far away, and while he understood her fear of losing her children, it was time he started living his life.

"He wanted to keep an eye on me, threatened to room with me and everything." Chris's voice came out weak, and full of pain, but he was smiling at his own joke.

"And I think I know just the right people to make it happen." When grinned as he winked at Lex and...Bruce Wayne of all people.

"Too bad their loyalties lie with me." Chris gave a half grin as he said it, and Wyatt was glad to see he hadn't destroyed their relationship. "Chloe, Bruce, I'd like you to meet my older brother Wyatt, Wyatt, this is Chloe Sullivan." Chris introduced the two of them.

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"Just who are you trying to be?" Chris asked his brother as he made his way out to the barn after Clark and Jonathan had stormed in and out of the kitchen, but refused to tell him what was wrong. He waited till they were out of the house before getting up from the couch and following them out to the barn, going slow as his ribs were killing him. He'd been surprised when he saw his brother out in the barn, dressed in a flannel shirt and overalls, both obviously new, and trying to bale hay but making a mess of it. It was obvious the Kent men were annoyed with Wyatt, but didn't want to tell him that as they appreciated what he was trying to do, which was fill in for Chris.

"I figured since you were laid up, I would do your chores...I have a feeling I'm not really impressing anyone with my farming abilities." Chris waved his hand over the bales, and orbed them out of the loft where Wyatt had been trying to throw them, and breaking half of them. "You could have just told me I could have used my powers." Wyatt glared at the stack of hay bales on the floor of the barn, before turning back to his brother. "Should you be up?"

"I'll be fine, it's not the first time I've broken a couple of ribs before." He and Wyatt were no strangers to broken bones, both of them had been using themselves as decoys to lead demons away from their younger sister and cousins for years. The only difference was that normally the pain didn't last long before their dad or aunt would come and heal them.

"First time you had to let them heal on their own as far as I know." It was true, he hadn't broken any ribs since he'd run away, but he was sure he'd bruised a couple of them while training with Bruce. He'd been surprised when his friend had offered to teach him hand to hand combat, but had gladly taken him up on it, surprised when he found out just how skilled Bruce really was. Lex had wanted him and Clark to learn, but the three of them quickly found that training together didn't help them to learn much or quickly as they always held back for fear of hurting each other.

"Dad did say he thought he knew who was blocking him from healing me." Chris offered up, it was true, after telling his dad everything he remembered about his accident his dad said he knew of a student who had similar abilities, but the boy hadn't showed up to school since it had happened. He figured the kid probably thought he was in trouble, and was laying low until the incident was forgotten.

"Let's hope he finds him soon, I don't know how long I'll be able to keep up doing your chores. This is really hard work." Wyatt wiped the sweat from his forehead before going back to work.

"And you apparently think you have to look like an idiot to do it." Chris said with a raised eyebrow, "Come into the house, I'll let you borrow one of my t-shirts and I'm sure Clark has en extra pair of jeans you can borrow."

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"Where have you been?" Melinda asked as he orbed back in after a long days work. He was surprised how much he liked the Kents, but had been able to pick up on the fact that they would be able to finish the work quicker without him. It was strange to see how easily his brother fit into that life. Though he was gladly going to take him up on his offer to go horseback riding once he was better.

"I was visiting Chris, figured the family he lives with could use some help on their farm, I figured wrong." He said as he sat down with a groan, "I did get to play with our niece though. Granted, I mainly just held her."

"We have a niece?" She asked him in shock, she had been so adamant about not wanting to know anything about their brother. She hadn't even asked how he was doing after he fell.

"Yeah, she's just a couple months old, but one of the most adorable baby I've ever seen." He couldn't help but want to gush about his adorable little niece, and hope it was enough to make his sister want to get over her issues with their brother. If nothing else it would make their parents happy.

"Did dad have any luck finding who pushed Chris?" He wanted nothing more than to beat the kid that was responsible, but knew that wouldn't aliviate his guilt.

"I haven't heard anything if he has, I doubt it though, the kid is a loser with no friends, who attacked a loser with no friends." She rolled her eyes as she spoke, and Wyatt felt the urge to walk out.

"I think you'd be suprised by just how much he's changed. Sure he doesn't have a ton of friends, but the ones he has have already proven themselves to be better than the actual losers you hang out with." Melinda glared at him as he left her by herself. He couldn't help but hope that she and his cousins would open their eyes and see that the people they hung out with are likely to get them hurt or in trouble, possibly even killed.


	21. Chapter 21

_I don't own Charmed or Smallville!_

"So, are we for tonight?" Melinda, Kat, and PJ all turned at the sound of the new voice. Shane McGovern was the best looking in the school, and the three girls had been known to to argue over which he liked best. With him was his best friend Michael Goodman, who they would gladly settle for him after Shane made his choice between the three of them.

The boys had approached them a week ago, asking for their help with something. Apparently the Shane's older brother owed someone a lot of money, and that person threatened to hurt Shane's family if they didn't get it.

While the girls didn't feel good about it, they offered to help the boys orb into a home where they could steal enough to pay the man back, but had only agreed once Shane pointed out that the person would have insurance to cover it.

Apparently the boys knew of someone who was rich and going to be out of town, and all the girls had to do was orb them in.

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"You sure you don't want us to stay with you?" Chris rolled his eyes as he gently rocked his little girl. The three month old had a low grade fever, which meant he would be missing out on whatever charity event Lex had planned on dragging him to that evening, that didn't get Clark out of it though. They had invited Tam to go with them that night as well, and Chris knew the young girl had been looking forward to being able to dress up, and wasn't going to be the reason she had to miss out.

"I will be just fine tonight." He was staying at the mansion since Jonathan and Martha were having people over, and he didn't want them to feel like they needed to cancel. He also wanted to make sure Charlie got as much sleep as possible so decided the mansion was best for that since the only people there would be the ones working security.

"Are you sure we shouldn't just heal her?" Lex fretted, gently resting his hand on the baby's forehead to check her temperature.

"I'm positive. She needs to build up immunities, but if it her fever get's any higher I will be here and can heal her." He'd already been on the phone with their doctor twice that day, and had taken Charlie into his office to have the pediatrician look her over in person just to be on the safe side...not that he'd tell Lex that, he didn't want to be seen as the parent that over reacted to everything.

"I know, I just hate the thought of not being here for her while she's sick." Clark perked up as he walked into the room in the tux Let had forced him to wear for the evening, and Chris knew the other boy hoped this was his way of getting out of having to go. He knew Clark was the one who felt the most out of place at these things, he really wasn't the type that enjoyed fancy, black tie events.

"I know you do, but LexCorp needs to be represented there tonight, especially since you're still trying to get it up off the ground. Besides, Tam has been really excited about this, and while I know she would understand, I'd hate to have to see her miss out on it." In the end the two were convinced to go, and Chloe was given his ticket for the evening, Lex somehow managing to find her a dress for the event, though Chris was afraid to ask him how.

So now Chris was alone for the evening, having just put Charlie down for the night. He made his way into the living room with his school bag so that he could get to work on his homework, making sure to keep the baby monitor right next to him so he would be able to hear if his daughter needed him.

He'd been working for maybe an hour when he heard a noise down the hall, and stood up, making his way toward the door, grabbing one of the fireplace pokers as he passed them. He glanced down the hallway first just to make sure it wasn't one of the members of Lex's security team, knowing they would come check on him and make sure he was ok if they were in this area of the house.

When he didn't see anyone he slowly crept down the hallway, trying his best not to make a sound. He could hear voices coming from Lex's office, as well as the sound of people throwing stuff around. "I thought you said you knew what you were looking for, and this would be a quick in and out." He heard a girl's voice say, it was easy to hear the fear in her voice.

"You seem to have no idea who much money the stuff in here is worth? It would all go a long way." He quietly made his way toward one of the silent alarms Lex installed though out the mansion. It would alert the sheriff, Lex, and whoever was working security tonight that there was a problem, and while he wanted to confront whoever was ransacking his boyfriend's office, the smarter part of him told him he needed to head up to his daughter's room and be ready to protect her should the need arise. It was an easy decision really, as he turned to head up to the nursery, knowing his security team was already on the way.

"Don't move!" Though apparently not fast enough. "Drop it, and put your hand's up slowly." He did as he was told, especially after feeling the gun barrel pressed into his back. "Good, now walk forward very slowly." He knew better than to disobey, as it was a toss up if he could orb out before he had a chance to be shot, but he wasn't about to take that chance. "Look who I found, he's dressed a little too comfortably to be staff." Chris glanced around the room surprised to find that they were all just a bunch of kids, two boys and a girl who looked like she was crying.

It was at that moment that he heard whimpering behind him, and slowly turned, finding two more girls, two very familiar looking girls. "You two ok?" He asked the two girls who were huddled together, crying in the corner. Brown eyes looked up, and found his, and with that he twitched his hand, sending the gun flying out of his attacker's hand. "How about you all just take a seat." Another wave of his hands, and the two boys were thrown to the ground.

"Mr. Bennett, is everything alright in here?" He turned to see Frank in the doorway, and that his gun was drawn.

"I'm getting to the bottom of it right now, would you mind calling Lex and Clark, and let them know things are ok here, maybe let the sheriff know as well." The man didn't look too sure of it, but did as asked. "Now is someone going to tell me what is going on here...and by the way, if you wake my baby you will wish you had never been born." As he said the second part he waved his hand and the baby monitor appeared on the corner of the desk in a flurry of orbs.

"Chris I can explain." Melinda said as she and Kat made their way to one of the couches.

"You better." He turned in shock at the sound of Jonathan's voice, and was even more surprised to see the man standing there with his shot gun in hand. "Clark called when Lex got the call about the alarm going off, he asked me to come check on the two of you."

"I'm sure he didn't ask you to bring the gun." He asked with a raised eyebrow as he gestured with his head to the shotgun.

"I read between the lines." Jonathan said with a slight grin.

"Now, how about that explanation." Chris asked as he crossed his arms, and leaned against the desk. He watched as the teens exchanged looks, each one waiting for the other to talk. He couldn't hide his laugh as he watched the kids all jump at the sound of the shotgun cocking, but he knew it was all just for show on Jonathan's part, as the man couldn't seem to keep the little grin off his face.

"My brother got into some trouble with a bookie, and he needed a lot of money really quick. He told me that a man who owned this mansion was going to be out of town tonight, but that we could find enough stuff to pawn here that he could get the bookie off his back." The words came spilling out of one of the boy's mouths.

"And you thought you could have Melinda orb you in and out before anyone was the wiser?" Chris finished the explanation for them, "What would you have done if I had been carrying a gun, or had been security? What were your plans if you 'd gotten caught. Lex isn't nice enough to let you live with him." He shot a grin of his own toward Jonathan.

"We didn't really think about that, no one was supposed to be home." Melinda said, but he could tell she was having a hard time keeping her tears at bay.

"He's my brother, do you know what that means?" The kid looked desperate, and Chris could understand and relate to that.

"I have a brother and sister myself, so I can understand the desire to want to protect family." He expected to see Melinda glare at him, but instead she just looked hopeful. "Did any of you think to go to an adult about your brother's problem?" He gave the three of them a stern look, and they all looked down at their feet. "Obviously you all go to Magic School together as you knew about Mel's powers, so you could have gone to her parents, or Kat's, or PJ's, you could have done something that didn't involve breaking laws."

"We...um...I guess we didn't think about that." Melinda said as she refused to meet his eyes.

"Wait, who the hell is this guy?" The boy who held the gun to his back spoke up, and it was clear to Chris that this kid was headed down a dangerous path, and didn't seem to care. In fact, he seemed like the type who enjoyed causing people pain. He wouldn't be surprised if he was one of the ones who'd bullied Mikey, the kid who'd used his powers to keep Chris's dad from being able to heal him. Once Leo had tracked the kid down he'd brought him to the Kent farm, and after explaining who Chris was, what he was like, and how similar the two were to eachother, he'd undone whatever it was he did to him, making it possible for his dad to heal him.

"I'm her older brother, and you could have gotten her and my cousins hurt by involving them in this." He glared at the two boys, but only one had the decency to look ashamed. "Now, I'm going to help your brother, but you five are going to have to earn it...think of this as a community service." He would wait till Lex and Clark were home to iron out a plan for the bookie, and exchanging a look with Jonathan, knew he was already coming up with chores for them to do around the farm.


End file.
